Sustainability

Sustainability complements the mission of Saint Louis University by promoting a campus community that engages in decision-making based on the dimensions of justice, environmental stewardship and economic accountability.

Sustainability supports, values and practices these dimensions to ensure that current and future generations have the opportunity to thrive.

Benchmarking

The saying goes, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Energy benchmarking is the process of measuring a building's energy use and comparing it against past performance or similar properties nationwide using standard metrics like Energy Use Intensity (EUI). In pursuit of our goal of continuously improving campus operations at Saint Louis University, the Division of Facilities Services is committed to a benchmarking process that identifies areas of opportunity. By determining best practices in the higher education sector and comparing current methods, we can develop performance metrics and compile data to inform strategic decision-making for campus facilities and operations.

In 2017, the City of St. Louis passed legislation that buildings over 50,000 square feet need to be benchmarked annually. In 2020, legislation was passed to create the Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, drive energy efficiency improvements and boost its economic growth and job creation within the City of St. Louis. Saint Louis University has been benchmarking their applicable buildings since 2017.

Stewardship

As a Jesuit institution, our commitment to environmental sustainability is deeply rooted in the call to stewardship, justice, and the care of creation. Guided by Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato si’, we recognize that the climate crisis is both a physical and a moral challenge. Our campus infrastructure — specifically how we utilize energy — must reflect our mission to act as responsible stewards of the Earth and protectors of the vulnerable.

Strategic Planning

In Facilities Services, strategic planning is embedded in our culture and keeps us striving for excellence in all we do. We are intentionally shifting from being reactive to proactive to achieve operational excellence and contribute to the University's strategic success. To do this, we are developing the capability of our staff to be strategic, building a culture of involvement and executing towards measurable outcomes.

APPA

We participate in the Facilities Performance Indicators survey and report annually through APPA - Leadership in Educational Facilities.

This survey and reporting tool enhances our ability to measure operations and performance to implement successful strategies that support our mission and vision.