Hopkins received a C+ grade on a study released Jan. 24 by the Sustainable Endowment Institute, which used seven criteria to determine the environmental friendliness of 100 prominent colleges and universities.
Among the seven criteria, Hopkins' grades ranged from an A in investment priorities to an F in endowment transparency, as neither its proxy voting record nor a list of endowment holdings is made public. In investment priorities, Hopkins received an A for investing in renewable energy funds. In shareholder engagement, Hopkins received a D.
"Most things, such as green building, organic food and energy efficient lighting are easy to see touch, and even feel," Mark Orlowski, Executive Director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, said. "When it comes to the endowment, you can't see it, you can't taste it, you can't feel it." Orlowski emphasized that it is important to see whether universities are investing in environmentally friendly funds or environmentally unfriendly funds when between the 100 universities graded, $258 billion in endowment monies are in the market.
"This report really focuses on providing info not just on parts of sustainability that are front and center, but also on parts of the endowment, which are less visible and less obvious," Orlowski said. "While it may seem like we're putting more of an emphasis on the endowment, we're really just bringing it into the public view."
The University scored well in the administration, climate change and energy, and food and
of Energy and Environmental Stewardship, recent energy saving policies, and the prioritization of organic food as the causes.
"Given the operational issues that we have here at Johns Hopkins, I think that the report card shows that we're making great progress," said Davis Bookhart, Manager of Energy and Environmental Stewardship since last March. His position at the school was instrumental in Hopkins receiving a B in administration.
In September, Bookhart helmed the creation of the Sustainability Committee, pulling together many of Hopkins' various environmental projects. The committee is made up of representatives from each of Hopkins' nine schools (now ten with the addition of the Carey Business School), as well as representatives from the library division and communication and government affairs.
"Our hiring of Davis Bookhart to take a leadership role from an institutional perspective has done an enormous amount to pull efforts together all over the university," said Larry Kilduff, Executive Director of Facilities and member of the Sustainability Committee. Although the Committee is a relatively recent addition to Hopkins, its effects have been significant, as evidenced by the C+ on the sustainability report card.
"This reflects, on a large part, a momentum that's been growing for a few years," said Bookhart. "We'd been doing very interesting things for years, but until recently they weren't coordinated and hadn't been publicized. Furthermore, we're getting geared up to do some very big things over the next few years."
The committee hopes to focus on renewable and alternative energy, new buildings and construction, water conservation, and sustainable food practices, as well as other environmentally friendly projects, such as a new storm water management system that is currently in the process of being developed. As of now, all rainfall at Johns Hopkins goes directly into storm drains.
"We're looking at keeping the rainwater here, and having it be absorbed into the soils, and maybe even be used for irrigation," Bookhart said.
The committee will also be working with dining services to help create an herb garden outside the Fresh Food Caf8e, as well as using more local food sources, especially in an attempt to find organic foods. When this project is finished, Hopkins will not need to bring in nearly as much food from outside sources, which requires the use of large, diesel trucks.
"Diesel trucks get six miles per gallon," Bookhart noted. He hopes that in the future Hopkins will rely less on cross-country transportation of foodstuffs.
In addition, the Sustainability Committee is working on replacing the shuttle buses with biodiesel engines, and well as adding new equipment that Bookhart says will cut emissions by up to 50%.
The committee is also working on a car share program with Flexcar. If it pans out, Johns Hopkins will have four hybrid cars available for students and faculty to rent on an hourly basis. Instead of keys, drivers will use their J-Card. This program is particularly helpful to the environment because now it will no longer be necessary to have a car on campus in order to run errands. As a result, members of the Johns Hopkins community who commute to campus will have the option of taking public transportation.
"Studies show that every car in a car share program has the effect of taking 15 cars off the road," said Mr. Bookhart; however, he stressed the fact that Johns Hopkins has not come to a formal agreement with Flexcar yet. A decision may come out in the next few months, along with many of the other projects on which the Sustainability Committee is working. Ultimately, Bookhart said, the committee's goal is to find ways to be more efficient with resources, rather than simply cutting back.
"It's easy to lower the thermostat to 50 deg and save energy," said Bookhart. "But the trick is to maintain the thermostat at a comfortable temperature, and to be able to save energy at the same time. Maybe put in better windows or something. And I think that's what sustainability all about. It's all about being smart and creative."
