Valparaiso University

College Sustainability Report Card 2010

The university’s campus master planning committee includes a subcommittee dedicated to sustainability issues. The subcommittee is working to coordinate the construction of the campus's third rain garden.

The university has recently converted boilers in all buildings to more efficient models, resulting in a 12 percent decrease in energy costs. Lighting retrofits and window replacements have also helped to improve efficiency. The facilities department has committed to reducing energy use by 10 percent during the 2009-2010 school year.

The university recycles all traditional materials and also has programs in place to recycle motor oil, vehicle batteries, tires, antifreeze, asphalt, concrete, steel, and iron. A new football turf field was constructed from recycled tires.

Five buildings on campus were built to meet LEED Silver standards. The university is installing occupancy sensors, waterless urinals, and low-flow toilets. The use of cooling towers has been eliminated to curb water use.

Earthtones, a student-run sustainability organization, promotes recycling on campus and recently ran an educational campaign to reduce the use of disposable water bottles.

In order to maintain a pedestrian- and bike-friendly environment, the university prohibits traffic through the center of campus and has eliminated most on-street parking. The university fleet includes six electric golf carts that have replaced the need for nine gas-powered service vehicles.

The university is invested exclusively in commingled funds and does not make a list of endowment holdings public.

The university is currently invested in, and is exploring further investment in, clean energy initiatives through private capital investing.

The university does not have the ability to vote proxies, as the entire endowment is invested in commingled funds.