Yale University

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

The University has an extensive Sustainability Office with advisory councils in separate departments which have helped reduce energy consumption in the residential colleges by 10 percent. The University matched that effort by purchasing renewable energy to cover two-thirds of their remaining energy needs. The University's commitment to becoming a sustainable institution includes all operational functions: energy systems, waste management, design and construction, water management, transportation, and landscape and land-use.

In the 2005-2006 academic year, the University pledged to purchase one-third of the residential colleges' energy needs from renewable sources if the colleges reduced their energy use by five percent. When the colleges exceeded those expectations and secured a ten percent reduction, the University agreed to supply another third of the colleges' energy from renewable sources. In October 2005, President Levin committed to reducing Yale's greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The Sustainable Food project involves efforts to buy local, organic food, as well as to utilize the university Farm for food and composting efforts, and to recycle in order to reduce outgoing waste.

The University is making a clear effort towards green building with its University Design Standards, which incorporate principles in line with LEED Silver certification. A Sustainable Building Design and Construction committee is in the process of reviewing, analyzing, and preparing a set of recommendations for a set of campus-wide design guidelines. A campus-wide retrofit of inefficient lightbulbs, windows, HVACs, and other facilities is currently in place, as well.

Basic investment information is made available in the annual report. However, the proxy voting record is neither made public, nor is it web accessible.

The University prioritizes investing to maximize profit and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

A committee composed of two students, two alumni, two faculty and two staff recommends and implements proxy voting that is approved by the Corporation. Recommendations on proxy votes are open to the Yale Community, as well as to the two student committee members. Yale's voting record addresses matters with Sudan, tobacco, and others.