By Jen WiecznerThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern received average marks on a report card grading its commitment to the environment, earning a C-plus with praise for green building practices but criticism for not having environmental advisory committees.
The first-ever College Sustainability Report Card assessed the environmental initiatives and endowment policies of the 100 top-funded universities and colleges. The survey, conducted by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, ranked most schools in the C-range, although 26 schools placed higher.
Schools were rated from A to F in seven criteria, with scores averaged for an overall grade.
The highest mark was an A-minus, awarded to Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, and Williams College.
NU earned A grades for its investment priorities, its green building policies and its efforts to support alternative energy sources. NU received praise for its sustainability policy, which includes a commitment to making all new construction 20 percent more energy efficient than building codes. NU’s first building certified for energy efficiency was the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center, completed in fall 2005. A cogeneration plant on the Chicago campus reduces costs and pollution by efficiently producing both thermal and electrical energy, and NU administrators are looking into putting another cogeneration plant in Evanston.
In the administration category, NU received a B, marked down for not having a sustainability coordinator or an advisory council. But SEED co-chairwoman Rachel Patten said she was impressed with the administration’s efforts.
“I think the administration is very progressive, but we shouldn’t just be looking to the administration,” said Patten, a SESP junior. “If students are really committed to this, there definitely has to be some student responsibility.”
NU received a D in the food and recycling category. The report complimented off-campus recycling efforts but said dining services were not doing enough to recycle waste. NU recycles about 26 percent of its waste, which is “average to above average,” said Julie Cahillane, manager of recycling and refuse.
According to the sustainability report, NU has the potential to recycle 60 percent of its waste. Cahillane said the low grade surprised her. The 60 percent figure is outdated, she said.
“I don’t know exactly how realistic that figure is at this time,” she said.
NU failed in two financial categories, primarily because the university does not publically release shareholder voting records and endowment records. This can be dangerous, said Mark Orlowski, executive director of the institute that conducted the survey, because only money managers are involved in decisions and environmental initiatives are often ignored.
“There’s a number of studies that show that money managers tend to vote against all resolutions of (an environmental) nature,” he said. “There’s no public statement to the contrary.”
NU Chief Investment Officer William McLean said money managers are privileged to confidential information and that confidentiality has never been questioned.
Environmentally leading schools often involve student-faculty committees in shareholder decisions, Orlowski said.
McLean said NU doesn’t have such a committee and that he hasn’t seen a need for one.
His office does have an “open-door policy,” he said, and he often meets with students about endowment spending concerns.
Orlowski said the C average among all the schools was not “incredibly ideal” but that hopes the grades will rise along with the increase in environmentally-friendly trends. The survey aims to point toward the best sustainability practices and foster “healthy competition,” he said.
Reach Jen Wieczner at [email protected].
