Greener College Endowments
Just about everyone knows that endowments across the nation’s colleges and universities suffered colossal losses in the past fiscal year. But with colleges seeing less green in the bank, does this imply students should expect to see fewer green initiatives on campus? Researchers at the Sustainable Endowments Institute, a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization engaged in sustainable research and education, don’t think so. In its fourth annual College Sustainability Report Card 2010, the Institute evaluated the environmental commitment of 332 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada with combined holdings of more than $325 billion, or “approximately 95 percent of all higher education endowment assets.” These schools were ranked based on publicly available information, surveys of school officials, and comprehensive performance assessments, which involved 120 questions across 48 indicators separated into 9 categories, including Climate Change & Energy, Green Building, Endowment Transparency, Shareholder Engagement and Investment Priorities.
The results were startling. Rather than slashing their expenditures on sustainability along with all other aspects of university operations, many schools are maintaining or even increasing the level of their commitment to green projects, especially those related to carbon emissions reduction. At Pomona College, for instance, solar panels produce approximately 118,834 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy for the campus each year. Additionally, a new 1,750-kilowatt cogeneration facility at Amherst College has shrunk the liberal arts school’s carbon emissions to 5 percent below its 1990 emission levels.
Moreover, the College Sustainability Report Card 2010 reports that a whopping 92 percent of the 332 colleges surveyed currently have or are exploring endowment investments in renewable energy funds, an increase from 53 percent in last year’s report. A number of colleges are also diversifying their portfolios by investing at the local level, strengthening communities around them and contributing to the schools’ own sustainability. The Report Card reveals, for instance, that 28 percent of schools currently have or are exploring endowment investments in community development loan funds (compared to 16 percent the previous year), and that 13 percent of the schools invest or are in the process of investing a portion of their endowment in on-campus projects to advance energy and/or water efficiency.
Why have schools refused to cut back their spending on green projects even in the face of a strained financial reality? While this may seem somewhat counterintuitive, more green expenditures may actually produce a salutary effect for schools’ bottom lines. According to Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Sustainability Endowment Institute, tighter budgets have motivated schools to save more money by adopting “environmentally friendly innovations,” such as the completely solar-powered building at Oberlin College and the 10 micro-wind turbines that adorn Yale University’s campus. In addition, greener campuses and sustainability-oriented investments are proving to be effective tools for attracting prospective students, who have grown to be more environmentally conscious overall.
To see how your school did and to learn more about the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, click here. Photo courtesy of Geograph.
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