STAR Communities and Arizona State University’s Sustainability Solutions Services have announced a partnership to support local governments that are interested in benchmarking and tracking their sustainability performance. The partnership benefits STAR Community Rating System applicants in that universities are able to facilitate the data collection and reporting necessary for certification, which requires demonstration of sustainability across economic, environmental and social sectors.

“STAR allows the ASU Solutions Services group to help communities conceptualize how their current activities fit into a larger sustainability framework, as well as plan, prioritize and measure progress toward their goals,” said Mick Dalrymple, practice lead for Sustainability Solutions Services. “By becoming a University STAR Affiliate, we can better share, promote, implement and extend solutions that address sustainable approaches to complex community challenges at both a local and global scale."