Green Audit

Title of the Practice:    Green Audit

Objectives of the Practice: The objectives of Green Audit are: To fulfill the Institution’s responsibility towards reducing carbon footprint and contribute to environmental protection. To promote Environmental Consciousness and Responsibility among students. To implement green practices consistently and effectively towards creating a sustainable campus. To monitor and evaluate the Green practices , towards building a sustainable campus To generate innovative green practices, promoting the spirit of eco-innovation among students.

The Context:

Climate change and its impact, has brought into focus the need for environmental protection as a global agenda. It has emerged as the pillar for sustainable development of the world. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)are an important step in ensuring nation’s responsiveness towards  environmental protection .The Legal and the policy framework of the country has incorporated  many environmental measures, involving all stakeholders in the mission.

It is in this context that, the Institution has been responsible and responsive in implementing green practices, such as solar powered campus, green plantation, Rain water harvesting structures, Solid waste management, E-Waste Management, Energy conservation etc. It also conducts various programs and activities to promote awareness on various green practices under the aegis of the Dept of Botany and the ECO-Club .The Student Quality Circle (SQC) has played an active role towards this end.

To enhance the effectiveness of the green practices and their impact, the Institution has undertaken the Green Audit. Green Audit is a practice which audits and certifies the green practices by a certified environmental auditor. It is the assessment and verification of the activities undertaken by the Institution towards mitigation of climate change, reducing carbon footprint, resource efficiency through conservation and effective utilization, sensitizing environmental issues etc.

The Practice:

The  Green Audit is planned and organized  by the IQAC. A committee is constituted for the planning and implementation of Green Audit .

The Committee comprises of the following members :

1. Vijaya,Coordinator IQAC – Convenor
2. Lt E.M.Sunitha,Head,Dept of Botany – Co-Convenor
3. D. Pankaja,Dept of English – Co-Convenor
4. Vinodini Reddy,Head, Dept. of Chemistry
5. T.Vamshi Mohana,Head, Dept. of Computer Science
6. P. Shakuntala ,Head, Dept. of Physics
7. Anita, Head, Dept. of Zoology
8. B.Swapna, Head, Dept. of Electronics
9. O.Sita Kumari, Faculty member, Dept. of Botany
10. Ms Rajani, Faculty member, Dept. of Botany
11. A.Kavita, Dept. of Botany

The Committee held meetings to discuss:

• The plan of action, schedule and reporting.
• A few activities were planned and implemented based on the 3R’s Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
• It was decided to adopt the principle of ‘Measure to monitor’ for evaluating the impact of green practices.
• It was decided to prepare a report based on the data collected.
• 3BL Business Solutions, an Environmental Audit Firm has been identified to conduct the Green Audit.
• The Green Audit was conducted on 16^th November,2017. The Report was presented and the audit was undertaken.

 

Evidence of Success:

The success of the green practices is evident in the reduced carbon footprint from solar energy, reduced power bills, increased water table, increased carbon sequestration etc. The outcomes are reflected in Auditor’s Report and the Certificate stands testimony to the Effectiveness.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required:

The problems encountered in implementing additional practices are limited space and time.