Tools and frameworks

CSAF: Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework

The CSAF is a sustainability assessment tool designed for university and college campuses. It is the largest scale tool of its kind containing over 170 sustainability indicators.

The CSAF was developed as a Masters thesis, and contains the work of 15 co-researchers who are experts in campus sustainability, and more than 130 others who helped out with advice, input, and ideas along the way. Many campuses have already made use of this world-class assessment framework. This tool is ideal for upper year-students, faculty members and sustainability offices who are working on campus sustainability.

To get your hands on this invaluable resource please contact us at national@syc-cjs.org.

Building CSAF Research Skills and Capacity Guide

Assessing Campus sustainability can be a challenge so we developed a guide to assist CSAF researchers with data collection methods and presentation of assessment results.

Thanks to Professor Jane Webster of Queen's for undertaking a revision of this document for a new course: Sustainability Measurement, Implementation, and Evaluation being taught starting January 2012.

CSAF core

To the request of many campuses, SYC has identified in Fall 2009 the main indicators of its CSAF to better start assessing sustainability on a campus.

Download the CSAF core.

Campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Toolkit and Emissions Calculator

This resource is a guide and Microsoft Excel workbook that enables you to get a clear picture of your campus’ contribution to the Global Climate Crisis. The guide and calculator can help you assess the research methods and requirements necessary for determining GHG emissions and provide the electronic brain-power to crunch the numbers. Equipped with this information, students can develop effective emissions reduction strategies and provide universities and colleges with the information they need to make good, climate-conscious decisions. Numerous Universities in both Canada and the US have used the Campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Toolkit and its calculator is based on workbooks provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC).

If you are interested in using the GHG Emissions Inventory Toolkit, please contact national@syc-cjs.org.