Methodological proposal for the assessment of environmental aspects in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Abstract

This work proposes a methodology specially aimed at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The methodology is based on the use of quantitative and qualitative indicators that allow diminishing the assessment’s subjectivity and the uncertainty of the results. This proposal was designed within the implementation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) according to the ISO standard 14.001/2015, so it can be applied by any kind of organization interested in improving its environmental performance by identifying its environmental aspects, as well as assessing and preventing its environmental impacts. The methodological proposal assesses standard criteria like the affected area and the frequency of the activities that generate the environmental aspects. This analysis is complemented by innovative indicators such as the danger of the substances related to the environmental aspect, the time of exposure and the effects on human health. Additionally, some indicators that allow measuring the magnitude of the harm generated by the identified aspects are also included. The proposed approach has two main advantages: first, it allows integrating the environmental analysis with other management systems, such as the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS 18001), quality (ISO 9001) and general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories (ISO 17025), among others; and second, it establishes an indicators system whose frequent assessment allows following up the environmental aspects and evaluate the effectiveness of its management measures. The application of this methodology in the main seat of Universidad Nacional de Colombia revealed that the most significant environmental aspects were: generation of ordinary solid waste, consumption of potable water, consumption of electric power, generation of recyclable solid waste, and wastewater discharge.