by Shane Henson — November 30, 2012—STAR Communities has announced that more than 30 North American cities and counties will be engaged in a year-long pilot to evaluate and test the first national rating system for community sustainability.
According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in 2007 USGBC worked with ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and the Center for American Progress to launch the concept for the rating system at Greenbuild, USGBC’s international green building conference and expo. By 2008, they had established a formal partnership that included the National League of Cities, to develop the program. STAR Communities, based in Washington, DC, was established as an independent nonprofit organization in April 2012 to administer and manage the STAR Community Rating System and its associated products and services.
According to STAR Communities, as a voluntary, self-reporting framework for evaluating the sustainability of U.S. communities, STAR uniquely combines:
- A framework for sustainability that includes social, economic and environmental qualities of a community;
- A rating system that drives continuous improvement and fosters competition; and
- An online system that gathers, organizes, analyzes, and presents information needed to meet sustainability goals.
Local community leaders will use the STAR Community Rating System to assess how sustainable their communities already are, set goals for moving ahead, and measure progress along the way, says STAR Communities.
“This groundbreaking system—designed and built by local governments—is a huge accomplishment that will unleash local leadership in sustainability,” said Dr. Jason Hartke, vice president for national policy at the USGBC.
STAR Pilot Communities will be the first to receive a rating based on their responses using a Technical Guide, Online Reporting Tool, and associated products and services that are designed to help communities establish and measure their own sustainability, says STAR Communities.
