College Sustainability Report Card 2011: Winners And Losers

Today, the Sustainable Endowments Institute released the fifth edition of its College Sustainability Report Card, which rates 322 colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada according to how green they are. The report indicates that significant efforts have been made by many universities to increase levels of sustainability since 2006 -- this year, for example, 70 percent of participating schools have a campus farm or garden (up from 9 percent in 2006), 95 percent have a sustainability committee (up from 40 percent in 2006) and a whopping 75 percent have eliminated trays from their dining room tables (up from zero percent in 2006).

Participating schools were graded in nine categories, include climate change and energy, green building and endowment transparency and then given an overall GPA. Schools were assessed according to public data as well as custom surveys sent out to campus officials and student organizations.

Inside Higher Ed notes that this particular report card has caused some controversy among certain colleges because it takes into account transparency in its rankings. In July, 24 colleges issued a letter saying that they would not cooperate with the institute. Still, SEI's set of rankings is regarded as one of the most comprehensive assessments of campus sustainability.

Along with the report, SEI launched a corresponding website, GreenReportCard.org, which features an interactive map, detailed profiles of each school and full answers to survey questions.

Below, check out the seven schools that earned top marks -- and the seven that got the lowest. Has your campus made an effort to be more environmentally friendly? Tell us about it below.

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Comments

[nmeemn]

07:09 PM on 11/11/2010

Chico State #8 on this list, and Hahvahd is on it too.

http://www.grist.org/article/colleges1/

[Ivyleaguequaker]

03:12 PM on 11/09/2010

Just reading the posts indicate that this list is a pile of garbage, recyclable or not, that I can't answer!

[J Maness]

06:14 PM on 11/04/2010

J Maness University should be at the top of the list. You wire me $200k and I'll email you a nice diploma. No parking problems, noisy dorms or binge drinking. Four years of your life? I give it back to you with the diploma. How much greener can we be? No carbon emissions from you, plenty of green for me.

[cabaretchatnoir]

09:55 PM on 10/29/2010

Important info pertaining to the list, it costs $700 to get mentioned on the list, so the missing schools are no doubt unwilling to buy into the list.

[ProxyAriesMan]

12:58 AM on 10/28/2010

The most environmental sustainable colleges are probably the ones with a more thorough online distance learning option. Thomas Edison State College, PSU's World Campus, OSU's distance learning program etc etc. And those who offer the distance learning courses with all e-books, well, they are even better. Electronically submit you tests, essays, and never have to use gas to drive to campus. Eco-friendly & adult learning friendly :)

[sfbbmom]

12:02 AM on 10/28/2010

Hello. Every single building at UC Merced is LEEDS certified gold or platinum. The UC Merced solar cells grids provide a huge percentage of electrical needs, and the water recycling towers, etc provide hugely to the campus water supply. There is simply no more sustainable campus than UC Merced. While new and small (4500 students this year)(actually growing and no longer "small"), this is the State of the Art sustainable campus. Check it out, and you will see.

[isis]

09:22 AM on 10/28/2010

LEEDS certification is a private thing and means more about buying products than really saving energy. Some of the energy savings come from poor ventilation.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/6191/bad_air_in_green_buildings/

[Martha57]

11:43 PM on 10/27/2010

Check out a small college in the NE Kingdom of VT in the town of Craftsbury Commons, Sterling College, they have been doing this well before it was the fad!

[HotWheels]

11:37 PM on 10/27/2010

How in the world did Western Washington University get omitted? They use 100% sustainable energy (wind) to power the entire campus. 100%. They were the nation's first school to do this. 40 million kwH a year they consume, which is 100 percent sustainable. They have been ranked in the EPA's top 10 list for the past several years.

WWU's 98,000-square-foot student rec center was LEED certified in 2007, which was the first student rec center in the country to receive the certification. Their 2009 LEED scorecard gave them a platinum status, with 110 LEED points, which seems to far outshine some of the schools on this top ten list.

[Iamplumbdiscouraged]

11:03 PM on 10/27/2010

I don't think Gallaudet's low ranking is fair. I would be willing to wager that a large number of their students have not heard about this program

[jonrice]

09:37 PM on 10/27/2010

Obligatory plug for Pitzer College’s sustainability efforts. 3 current LEED Gold Buildings, about to break ground on 3 LEED Platinum buildings, among many other green aspects of the campus.

[sfbbmom]

12:06 AM on 10/28/2010

Every single building at UC Merced is LEEDS Gold or Platinum. Dorms, Library, Health Center, Gyms, classroom buildings. Again, every single building. UC Merced is absolutely the most sustainable campus in the US.

[isis]

09:23 AM on 10/28/2010

LEED certification is just a private thing without much meaning

http://inthesetimes.com/article/6191/bad_air_in_green_buildings/

[goddess1871]

08:27 PM on 10/27/2010

What??? Luther College is not on the list? I'm pretty sure if I hear the word "sustainable" around here one more time I'll scream! (I'm all for sustainability - I'm just tired of hearing about it.)

[Ryan Justice]

08:18 PM on 10/27/2010

Check out Berea College, then weep for omitting it from this list......

[goddess1871]

08:26 PM on 10/27/2010

What a wonderful, beautiful (and, evidently, sustainable!) campus.

[Fretchen]

08:07 PM on 10/27/2010

Wow - yet another "ranking" list. Where do all these "studies" originate? It appears to me that if you have just graduated, it would be important to know that since the number and nature of these things indicate they most certainly need more employees to keep up the flow.

[archUF]

07:13 PM on 10/27/2010

this list is B_U_L_L . University of Florida owns the most LEED certified buildings of any university in the US. LEED is not the end-all be-all, but it is a step forward. At the very least, it should have been on the list. It is continually making improvements every day toward a more sustainable campus - it may not use the least amount of energy, but lets not forget it serves almost 52,000 students + faculty, and is in an extremely hot climate, with very cold winters.

[isis]

09:24 AM on 10/28/2010

LEED=meaningless and perhaps dangerous

http://inthesetimes.com/article/6191/bad_air_in_green_buildings/

[archUF]

01:52 PM on 10/28/2010

true, as I said above, LEED is not perfect. But after studying all of the other systems throughout the world, it seems to be the best. Also note that the system evolves over time- its a fairly new system - its not going to be perfect right away. It does offer points for Indoor Air Quality - but as of now it is not a prerequisite. To say that it is meaningless is somewhat ignorant. Although the system isnt perfect - it is cranking out a way of measuring the consumption of energy of a building, as well as its long-term environmental impacts - even the treatment of the site during construction, and has lead to a lot of buildings that both treat the site and the earth better, as well as use significantly less energy in the short and long term.

[joefoss]

05:59 PM on 10/27/2010

According to every survey of environmental groups I've ever seen, MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE
is the "greenest" school.