SAS^® Sustainability Management for Higher Education

In leading the charge toward ensuring a sustainable future, students and administrators in US higher education understand that integrating sustainability into both practice and curriculum will not only render a healthier planet, but will attract socially and environmentally minded students, procure new sources of sustainability grant funding and garner the support of alumni and neighboring communities. But without wasting precious time, staff and money, the college and university presidents who are ACUPCC signatories must decide which programs will contribute to their goal of climate neutrality by 2050.   In the Spotlight Best practices in carbon footprint modeling Instead of just calculating and reporting a number for compliance, organizations must go beyond calculation into activity modeling if real understanding, leadership and goals are to be achieved. The complexities of tracking GhG emissions extend beyond the capacities of simple spreadsheets and manual reporting. When yesterday’s IT and IR tools are being used to solve tomorrow’s problems, you end up with inconsistent data and costly use of time and resources. Institutional performance now requires sustainability measures across educational, research, curriculum and administrative factors, which in turn requires the vital steps of integrating and analyzing data. Through the insight achieved from data integration and advanced analytics, the ability to take decisive action is how educational stakeholders can make an immediate impact on this global imperative. How SAS® can help Measure institutional sustainability activities using education-oriented methodologies and protocols (AASHE, ACUPCC, GRI). You can trust the quality of data and resulting analysis from SAS' award-winning data integration and analytics capabilities, which leverage your existing investments in operational systems and databases. Report ongoing performance to ensure transparency with institutional constituents and with organizations such as the ACUPCC. By establishing an integrated, consistent source of quality information, you can bind initiatives to a common sustainability framework that allows alignment across all areas of the institution from student engagement and education to institutional administration and local communities. Improve performance and reduce costs by identifying the metrics that have the greatest impact on goal attainment so you can make the most informed strategic decisions. Apply the power of SAS optimization, forecasting and data mining capabilities to analyze scenarios and run simulations to pinpoint the best strategies for your institutions. Manage and forecast the finances and resources needed to achieve the desired outcomes across the enterprise and within each department. Prioritize institutional strategies and align funding for innovation, environmental program development and faculty and students accordingly. Establish scorecards and strategy maps driven by the sustainability goals of the institution. How SAS® is different As the leader in business analytics, SAS is the critical enabler that allows you to meet your environmental and social objectives: SAS modeling capabilities go beyond traditional carbon accounting to provide fundamental financial decision support for sustainability investments through predictive analytics. SAS for Sustainability Management is the broadest application of solutions in the market, providing capabilities ranging from internal optimization of facilities through to insights in your supply chain. SAS provides embedded data integration to connect to building management systems, environmental data systems or utility flat files. Only SAS offers an integrated platform for business analytics that provides performance management initiatives with a consistent, accurate view of information, from data to decisions to support. SAS offers pre-defined sustainability performance management frameworks, including one based on generally accepted sustainability reporting metrics, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). SAS' analytic capabilities give insight into costs and cost drivers, as well as the financial impacts of green initiatives. Activity-based costing and capacity resource planning models help choose between alternatives, based on the predicted resources required. Designed specifically for educational institutions, SAS will be providing a hosted on-demand sustainability solution that enables you to expand IT reach with minimal investment and significant ROI. At SAS, we recognize that environmental sustainability is a continuous effort that requires prudent use and preservation of our natural resources. Please read our Corporate Social Responsibility Report(PDF) for more information on SAS' commitment to sustainability. Related Software Offerings SAS for Sustainability Management – Measure, manage and report on the triple bottom line – environmental, social and economic indicators – and determine strategies that reduce risk and increase value. SAS’ hosted on-demand solution for sustainability in higher education will soon be available. For more information, please call 1-800-727-0025.

Ready to put THE POWER TO KNOW® to work for you? Sign up for one of our free academic initiative e-newsletters. Contact your local SAS office or call us toll free at 1-800-727-0025 (US and Canada). Contact SAS for pricing information and to learn more about our products and solutions. Read the press release SAS Analytics boost green momentum.