Group: College's Green Behavior Gets Failing Mark
John Krudy
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: News
An environmental group gave Hillsdale College a poor environmental GPA on Sept. 24, awarding it eight F's and a C in an analysis of the school's green behavior in investment strategies and sustainable practices on campus.
The Sustainability Endowment Institute, formed in 2005 in Massachusetts, evaluated American colleges on 43 environmental criteria related to the colleges' campus facilities and endowments.
The institute first released its Green Report Card in 2007. This year, 290 of 300 colleges responded to the surveys. Hillsdale was among the 3 percent that did not.
Vice President of Administration Rich Péwé said Hillsdale's administrators felt no obligation to participate.
"A college shouldn't be about sustainability, it should be about the original articles of its mission and how well it fulfills those goals," he said. "We got this survey late in the summer, and it came out of nowhere, as far as legitimacy is concerned."
Spokesperson Bethany Rodgerson of the SEI said the report card helps students decide whether to attend a college, or to find out how sustainable the practices of the college they attend are.
"Our aim isn't to point fingers," Rodgerson said. "It's about seeing how we can all improve."
SEI sent Hillsdale three surveys and then followed up with a letter to ensure the administrators had submitted what responses they wished to. Though the institute did not visit campus, it gave Hillsdale the lowest possible rating on its campus sustainability policy, local or sustainable food use and reduction of carbon emissions.
The college's best grade was a C, for using its endowment to invest in environmentally responsible funds.
"We're working on several surveys at any one time," Péwé said. "We have to decide which to do."
He said the college strives for economic efficiency, and that usually means energy efficiency. Efforts towards that goal include quality insulation and roofing systems, a networked HVAC system that responds to climate controls and weather changes and lights that turn off automatically when people leave a room. Most of the buildings on the central campus get their utilities from the single physical plant, which saves energy and costs.
The Sustainability Endowment Institute, formed in 2005 in Massachusetts, evaluated American colleges on 43 environmental criteria related to the colleges' campus facilities and endowments.
The institute first released its Green Report Card in 2007. This year, 290 of 300 colleges responded to the surveys. Hillsdale was among the 3 percent that did not.
Vice President of Administration Rich Péwé said Hillsdale's administrators felt no obligation to participate.
"A college shouldn't be about sustainability, it should be about the original articles of its mission and how well it fulfills those goals," he said. "We got this survey late in the summer, and it came out of nowhere, as far as legitimacy is concerned."
Spokesperson Bethany Rodgerson of the SEI said the report card helps students decide whether to attend a college, or to find out how sustainable the practices of the college they attend are.
"Our aim isn't to point fingers," Rodgerson said. "It's about seeing how we can all improve."
SEI sent Hillsdale three surveys and then followed up with a letter to ensure the administrators had submitted what responses they wished to. Though the institute did not visit campus, it gave Hillsdale the lowest possible rating on its campus sustainability policy, local or sustainable food use and reduction of carbon emissions.
The college's best grade was a C, for using its endowment to invest in environmentally responsible funds.
"We're working on several surveys at any one time," Péwé said. "We have to decide which to do."
He said the college strives for economic efficiency, and that usually means energy efficiency. Efforts towards that goal include quality insulation and roofing systems, a networked HVAC system that responds to climate controls and weather changes and lights that turn off automatically when people leave a room. Most of the buildings on the central campus get their utilities from the single physical plant, which saves energy and costs.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
John
posted 10/11/08 @ 5:34 PM EST
If for no reason other than to benefit the students, Hillsdale should start paying attention to and utilizing the LEED certification standards. This is a growing field in design, architecture and engineering and familiarity with the concept and standards will be of great value to future Hillsdale alums who wish to enter these fields. (Continued…)
Zach
posted 10/16/08 @ 6:19 PM EST
I don't see enough information to compare the efficiency of the buildings. How many sq ft does each have? What are their primary uses? These data are more important for comparing between the projects than the number of buildings and their cost. (Continued…)
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