How did we measure sustainability at Thomson House/PGSS? There are two facets to the project: – A building audit (completed by an architecture and engineering firm), funded by the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) to assess the energy and water use of Thomson House. – An operations audit (completed by the Sustainability Coordinator and grad/undergrad volunteers) to assess the environmental and social impacts (e.g. accessibility, diversity, waste, greenhouse gas emissions, landscape, food, etc). The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System was used as a framework. The report was completed in January 2013 and is available here.Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating Systemhere Based on the results of the building and operations audit, many recommendations were made (everything from solar panels to better wheelchair access!). From these recommendations, the Sustainable Thomson house Working Group went through them and decided which were feasible (based on costs, benefits, how realistic they were, etc.) What is the Sustainable Thomson House project? Since January 2012, the PGSS Sustainability Coordinator and a team of undergrad and grad students have been completely assessing the sustainability of Thomson House and PGSS operations. With these assessments, they have been working on a 5 year Sustainability Action Plan.

How did we decided which actions to pursue? These recommendations were then categorized by which stakeholders would ultimately be responsible for implementing the actions. For example, an increase in serving local/food would be under the Thomson House restaurant’s portfolio, while an accessibility audit would be under the PGSS Equity Committee’s portfolio. The sustainability coordinator consulted with each stakeholder group to check that they agreed with the recommendations, the time frame (short/medium/long term), priority, and qualitative/quantitative costs and benefits. On May 2 nd, 2013, the Sustainable Thomson House Working Group held a community consultation to display the results of the Sustainability Action Plan and get feedback from the PGSS community. Since not everyone was able to make it to the community consultation, it was suggested that an electronic version should be available online so that people could make comments on the action plan before it is finalized.

What do should you do with this document? The point of this document is for grad students and the McGill community to post their feedback on the action plan. Be critical! Post comments about things that need to be clarified or are missing, issues you’re unsure about, or ideas that you like. Some general points that we want feedback on: – Do you agree with the recommendations? – Is the time frame (short, medium, or long term) realistic? – Is the rating system clear? Are there any costs or benefits that we forgot? To comment, go into the “review” tab in Powerpoint, then “new comment”. When you’re done commenting, the document to Shona at Thanks for your feedback!

{Stakeholder} General sustainability goal Each page of the Sustainability Action Plan is formatted like this.

{Environment Committee} Educate PGSS members on environmental issues and sustainability

Challenge: Outreach campaign for PGSS members beyond Thomson House. Increase involvement of PGSS members to environmental issues, events, and discussions. Currently, PGSS operates within a Thomson House-centric sphere of influence. Yet the majority of post-graduate time is spent in his or her workspace, office or laboratory. Why it’s worth it: Focusing on reaching out to all PGSS members would substantially expand awareness of PGSS. Increased communication could be used as leverage to create real changes in members’ workspaces. This program would have a trickle-down effect, so not only students that visit Thomson House would benefit. It would also change the focus from Thomson House to PGSS members in general. Post-graduate students hold influence as the senior members in their respective work environments.

{Sustainability Coordinator} Oversee the implementation of the Sustainability Action Plan, increase opportunities for student learning, and outreach to graduate students within Thomson House and McGill.

{Sustainability Coordinator} (cont.)

Challenge: Eco Ambassadors Program to reach grad students beyond Thomson House. Sustainable TH has so far focus only on PGSS and Thomson House activities, but only a small percentage of grad students ever visit TH. It will be difficult to access grad students in labs at first, but establishing relationships and creating policies in labs will be beneficial so that other grad students and undergrads learn. Why it’s worth it: Grad students spend a lot of time in their respective labs, and often play a mentoring role to undergrads. Reaching beyond TH to give workshops and establish energy-saving practices in labs across campus would reach far more students.

{Executives} Provide representation, work to improve the quality and accessibility of post-grad education, and provide resources and services to PGSS members

{Executives} (cont.)

{Equity Committee (EqC)} Promote equity in PGSS operations and among PGSS members, and collaborate with other equity groups on campus

{Student Projects} Gain credit or volunteer experience for working on an applied project at Thomson House. Use knowledge learned at McGill + creativity to contribute meaningfully.

{Student Projects} Gain credit or volunteer experience for working on an applied project at Thomson House. Use knowledge learned at McGill + creativity to contribute meaningfully. Challenge: Students can gain valuable hands-on experience by working on new and existing sustainability projects at McGill. However, students who are volunteering or gaining course credit need mentoring and/or supervision from staff and faculty. It can also be difficult to break projects into semester-long pieces to accommodate students’ schedules and credit requirements. Why it’s worth it: McGill prides itself on excellence, but many students graduate without much practical experience. Applied student learning not only helps students decide their future career path, but teaches them life-long skills.

{Restaurant} To create an environment around Thomson house that promotes local and sustainable goods and services, while providing affordable services to PGSS members

{Board of Directors, HR} Maintain support for PGSS staff, execs, commissioners, and councilors

{Building} Maintain the heritage aesthetics and functionality of Thomson House, while economically reducing energy and water consumption and sourcing more sustainable building materials.