AASHE is excited to announce that a draft of STARS 2.0 has been finalized through collaboration with the STARS Steering Committee and Technical Advisors. This will be the first major update of STARS since the release of the original STARS 1.0 in 2010. On October 8, 2012, AASHE will begin seeking feedback on proposed changes through a six-week public comment period.

Here is a sneak peek at some of the changes being proposed in STARS 2.0 for which we hope to gather feedback:

• In STARS 2.0, former Tier Two (T2) credits have been consolidated into new credits and into existing credits as optional reporting fields. The STARS 2.0 draft currently includes a single tier of 70 credits, reduced from 139 Tier 1 and Tier 2 credits.
• New credits have been added, including credits covering student-run co-curricular programs, air pollutant emissions, land use, biodiversity, wastewater treatment, workplace health and safety, and community stakeholder engagement.
• The use of baselines in STARS has been changed significantly to give institutions greater flexibility in setting baselines for GHG emissions, energy consumption, waste generation and water use.
• New fields have been added to each subcategory and to the Innovation credits to allow institutions to upload images associated with STARS subcategories.

The STARS 2.0 public comment period will be open to anyone interested in providing feedback on the next major version of STARS. To participate, individuals can access the STARS website to review the STARS 2.0 Technical Manual and a summary of changes on the STARS website, and to participate in a survey of big-picture questions related to STARS. Comments will be submitted electronically on the STARS website.

Please spread the word to colleagues across your campus or organization, and visit http://stars.aashe.org/ on October 8 to begin providing feedback!