Stanford earns an 'A-' in sustainability
Sustainability report card
Stanford University was one of four universities that earned an overall grade of "A-" in the first report card issued on campus greening practices and endowment policies in the United States and Canada by a Massachusetts research institute.
In a 118-page report released Jan. 24 by the Cambridge-based Sustainable Endowments Institute, Stanford shared top honors with Dartmouth College, Williams College and Harvard University.
The report analyzed sustainability practices at 100 institutions—large and small, public and private—with the largest endowments. According to the institute, the schools have combined holdings of more than $258 billion, about 75 percent of all higher education endowment investments.
The institute, which was founded in 2005 as a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, graded each school in seven categories.
Stanford received an "A" in five subjects: administration, food and recycling, green building, investment priorities and shareholder engagement. The university received a "B" in climate change and energy and a "C" in endowment transparency.
"The fact that we came out with an overall 'A-' is great," said Jeffrey Koseff, director of the Woods Institute for the Environment and a professor of civil and environmental engineering. "The report card will serve as a nice measure of where we are. It also tells us we've got some work to do. We shouldn't rest on our laurels."
Koseff said the "B" in climate change and energy could be boosted to an "A" once the university completes its carbon audit and sends that report to the institute.
"It's not just a faculty and staff issue," Koseff said of the university's sustainability efforts. "Even though they might be here for just a short time, students are putting energy, time and effort into making Stanford a sustainable campus—to their real credit."
For a link to the full report, visit the web at http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/.
