Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on May 3, 2016.

Lawrence is the first city in Kansas to receive a four-star rating from a national sustainability certification program.

“With this four-star rating, we are set apart in a class of cities that take sustainability and the concepts of creating livable cities seriously,” Mayor Mike Amyx told those gathered at the Lawrence Public Library for the announcement Tuesday evening.

The STAR (Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating) Community Rating System evaluates local governments on economic, environmental and social factors to measure sustainability and rates communities out of five stars.

Only four cities have received a 5-star rating: Northampton, Mass.; Seattle; Baltimore; and Cambridge, Mass.

Other regional cities to go through the certification process include Wichita, St. Louis and Colombia, Mo., all of which received three stars.

Lawrence Sustainability Coordinator Eileen Horn said that the rating takes a “broad and holistic” view on sustainability. The seven goal areas for the rating include objectives related to the quality of the city’s buildings, energy use and natural systems, as well as ones related to education, equity and the economy.

“Sometimes when we talk about sustainability in our community, it’s easy to pigeon hole it in a particular place: this is recycling, these are community gardens, etc.,” Horn said.

But instead, Horn said the rating looked at many more factors — 44 objectives overall — using data from various city and county departments, partner agencies and nonprofit organizations. She said all the objectives represent components important to the quality of life and prosperity of a city.

“So from the water that we supply to our citizens to the safe communities that our police and community partners create, to how we prepare our citizens for good jobs, and how we protect the civil and human rights of our citizens,” Horn said. “All of those are key elements found in the STAR review.”

Lawrence received high scores for its recycling program, historic preservation and outdoor public spaces, as well for education and safety. Objectives where the city received fewer than half the points possible include the city’s level of climate adaption, infill and redevelopment, and quality jobs and living wages.

The STAR rating framework began in 2012 and provides a set of best practices for sustainability. So far, 51 communities have been certified under the rating, and Lawrence is one of 20 cities to receive four stars.

City Manager Tom Markus said the rating was a “significant achievement” for Lawrence. Markus noted the four-star rating is the same level received by cities known nationally for their sustainability efforts, such as Austin, Texas, and Portland, Ore.

“They’re fours as well, so you’re in really good stead,” Markus said. “And I think that those are places that we will share best practices with going forward, not only in terms of our STAR rating and how we arrive at that, but how that fits into our strategic plan.”

The STAR rating is re-evaluated every three years, and Markus said the rating objectives can be used as part of the City Commission’s new strategic planning process.

“I want to encourage our community to keep us on point with our STAR rating as we go forward, because I think the goals are really worthy,” Markus said. “And they really fit in a place like Lawrence.”