Boulder chosen as “Beta Community” for groundbreaking sustainability measurement tool

The City of Boulder is one of just nine cities and counties in the country to be selected to pilot a new sustainability rating system that allows local governments to analyze, map, and manage all their sustainability data in one place, and to share that information on a dashboard that interfaces with the city’s website. Boulder’s designation as a “Beta Community” for the STAR Community Index ™ (STAR) was announced today by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA.

The STAR tool is expected to transform and accelerate the local sustainability movement by offering cities and counties a roadmap for advancing climate protection, economic recovery and equal opportunities for all residents within a community.

“Boulder has shown its commitment to being an innovator in sustainability, but we know that having courage and good ideas isn’t enough to achieve our goals,” said David Driskell, executive director of community sustainability. “This tool will help advance our ongoing efforts to collect meaningful data to analyze what works, where there are opportunities for improvement and where we might focus our efforts. We are very excited to have been selected for this unique program, and think it will provide a great learning tool for our community.”

Together, ICLEI and the Beta Communities will road test STAR, to ensure that it can be adopted by local governments around the country, ranging from small towns to major cities. The other cities chosen are Atlanta, GA.; Chattanooga, TN.; Cranberry Township, PA.; Des Moines, Iowa; the District of Columbia; King County, WA.; New York, NY; and St. Louis, MO.

“These nine early-adopter cities, along with many other communities across the nation, are already taking the lead on energy efficiency and sustainable development in their own right and as such, they are the perfect candidates to advance the goals and mission of STAR, which is to build healthier, inclusive and more livable communities,” said Martin Chávez, Executive Director, ICLEI USA and three-term mayor of Albuquerque, NM.

The STAR Community Index is being developed by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI USA) in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), National League of Cities (NLC), and Center for American Progress (CAP), and in collaboration with over 150 sustainability experts and organizations from a diverse group of cities and counties, federal agencies, national associations, non-profit organizations and private entities.

The Beta Communities will receive technical support and resources to position them to become early adopters of STAR and accelerate their various sustainability efforts.

The selection of the nine Beta Communities follows the recent release of the STAR Sustainability Goals and Guiding Principles to assist local governments and communities with a much-needed vocabulary to more effectively strategize and focus their sustainability planning efforts. The 81 goals and 10 guiding principles released collectively define community-scale sustainability and serve as the foundation of STAR.
How the STAR Online Platform Will Work
The STAR online platform will provide users with a variety of features to enable quick uptake of the STAR Community Index. The platform will include features to enable local governments to analyze, map, and manage all their sustainability data in one place, and to present that information to internal managers, executives, and the public using a sustainability dashboard that interfaces with a city’s or county’s website. The tool will also facilitate data sharing with ICLEI for the verification and certification of a community under the forthcoming STAR rating system. More information on the STAR Beta Communities and STAR online platform can be found at: http://www.icleiusa.org/star

About the STAR Community Index
STAR will change the way local governments and communities approach sustainability goals – and how they manage and measure their long-term progress. This performance-based sustainability management system breaks ground by uniquely combining the following elements: a framework for sustainability — based on the pillars of environment, economy, and social equity; an online data-management platform that gathers, organizes, analyzes, and presents information required to meet community and government sustainability goals through effective management; and a management model and rating system that drive continuous improvement in community health, vitality and prosperity for all residents. More information on STAR can be found at: http://www.icleiusa.org/star