Introducing Xavier University

Xavier University of Louisiana, established in 1925 is a Catholic and historically black university. At Xavier, their mission is to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society. This preparation takes place in a diverse learning and teaching environment that incorporates all relevant educational means, including research and community service.

Environmental justice has been ingrained in the work of students and the Xavier community, however, there was no formal office dedicated to sustainability and little cohesion among different department’s initiatives. In 2016, The Vice President of Facility Planning and Management, Marion Bracy,  created a new position dedicated to sustainability to start managing some of the projects that were already happening but were not unified or tracked properly. This was a first step in trying to tie all aspects of sustainability at Xavier together into one story. In 2019 Helena Robinson was promoted to the position as the Director of Sustainability and Quality Control.

The Challenge

At Xavier, when it comes to environmental sustainability, there is a lot happening on campus, from recycling programs, to energy efficiency, to community engagement. However, like many universities and organizations across the board, data aggregation was a major challenge for Xavier. The resources and information were scattered, so building a centralized team and data hub was now essential.

With Helena Robinson taking on this new role in Sustainability, dedicated to engaging the students at Xavier, her first step was to begin compiling information about current environmental initiatives on campus. The office of Sustainability, UXLA Green, created Excel spreadsheets in attempts to not only aggregate, but track and report on their main Sustainability and ESG Goals and KPI.  Unfortunately Excel was simply not cutting it. This set up of various systems and spreadsheets contributed to an overall lack of transparency and engagement.  That is where Xavier’s journey collided with Sustaira. At the beginning of 2022, the University began using a new system; Energy Star Portfolio Manager. XULA Green staff were hoping to begin monitoring energy efficiency of buildings across the campus. This was a key “step one” to Xavier University’s sustainability journey. However, the issue remained that energy and environmental data was disparate and siloed within legacy systems, in Excel, and even the Energy Star system. 

The University needed a way to not only aggregate this sustainability data, but to be able to clearly track progress, goals and KPI, and share those results. The ultimate goal is to build awareness across not only campus faculty and staff, but the student body as well.  Sustaira initially was of interest because the platform is so colorful and inviting, Helena thought that next phase with Sustaira could be to have students engage directly with the platform. 

“Working with Sustaira has been wonderful! They Sustaira team has been intuitive to our needs and any changes or updates that may be needed within the application. Sustaira is listening to us, extremely helpful, and their actions show that they really want to get the software out there and work with sustainability directors to enable them in their Sustainability journeys.” - Helena Robinson Director of Sustainability and Quality Control at Xavier

The Solution 

In April of 2022, Xavier University of Louisiana’s sustainability office adopted Sustaira’s Sustainability and ESG Projects and KPI application. Working directly with one of Sustaira’s expert developers, Xavier was able to directly integrate this application with their Energy Star Portfolio Manager system. This now allows the university to take their sustainability goals and KPI that previously lived in Excel spreadsheets and various systems, and move them into a single application. 

The Goals and KPI Tracker application allows them to have 24/7 insights into the progress being made across all of their goals and KPI. This information is easily accessible and can be shared as needed. The newfound transparency is a huge step in the direction of truly engaged sustainability and a more efficient, effective, and accurate Sustainability and ESG plan.  

“Right now, the Sustaira Goals and KPI Tracker is making sustainability visible across Xavier. What people see on campus such as fliers about Sustainability, or even the occasional recycling bin, people just see that as a norm or just noise in the background. When we have data and reporting behind, it builds transparency and trust. This application gives us all of that, and it integrates with our existing systems, specifically the Energy Star Portfolio Manager and proves that what we're doing is working.” - Helena Robinson Director of Sustainability and Quality Control at Xavier

Delivered Value: 

• 24/7 ESG KPI transparency

• Goal setting, awareness, and tracking

• Direct integration with Energy Star Portfolio Manager

• Elimination of Excel Spreadsheets and manual processes

• Foundation and set up for next phase, e.g. staff and student engaged sustainability

• Delivery time: one week with one resource