Hopkins: low sustainability ranking is unfair

Unfair, unclear and inconsequential - that is how members of the Hopkins administration characterized its B- grading in the College Sustainability Report Card 2010.

University officials could not explain why, despite implementing a number of nationally recognized sustainability initiatives over the last year, Hopkins was barely able to maintain the grade it received last year.

"Honestly, the survey is inconsequential to our sustainability priorities. It seems every year there are more groups with self-proclaimed authority to grade universities on their sustainability efforts," said Davis Bookhart, director of the Sustainability Initiative at Hopkins.

Grading was done by the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), a nonprofit that focuses on promoting sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices.

SEI spokesperson Lea Lupkin characterized the Hopkins grade this year as a "low B minus."

The ranking is created through analysis of several self-reporting surveys provided by Hopkins, and is broken down into several categories ranging from transportation to student involvement.

These grades are then averaged together to produce the overall score.

Hopkins saw a decline in three categories since last year's report, and an increase in only two. To achieve a B- on the Report Card, a school must earn an average of 2.5 or higher.

"Last year, the school's overall GPA was 2.77, this year it is 2.55... as you can see, Johns Hopkins is a low B- this year," Lupkin said.

Bookhart could not understand how Hopkins received a lower ranking when the University has increased sustainability efforts.

"Unfortunately the SEI is not transparent in how they grade universities, so it is hard to see fairness in their process," he said.

He cited the decrease in the Food and Recycling grade despite the "FoodPrint" campaign, which has been adopted by several schools across the country.

"I see national leadership in examining the connections between greenhouse emissions and food choices, but apparently the SEI felt differently," Bookhart said.

Director of Campus Dining David Furhman did not understand why the school's sustainability initiatives in Food and Recycling were only enough to earn them a C.

"We received a B grade last year and are doing the same, and in some instances more, in terms of sustainability," he said. "We're certainly not doing less."

Furhman was proud of the progress campus dining has made over the past years. "We've come a very long way in making measurable strides," he said.In 2008, Hopkins introduced tray-free dining, expanded its organic and natural options and discontinued offering plastic bags.

The University also installed devices that help to save water and electricity in all campus dining facilities. However, Campus Dining currently limits its recycling to just cardboard.

According to Furhman, cardboard is the largest source of unsoiled waste produced by dining services.

"It provides us the best opportunity to make a measurable difference while not having to store large quantities of other materials for long periods of time that would result in both a space limitation and sanitation issue," he said.

The survey also considered whether or not the campus has a composting program.

Furhman also said that the University has considered launching a pilot composting program, but there have been concerns over cost, space and sanitation.

In addition, there has been no formal request from students for the creation of a composting program on campus.

A successful composting program is one of the many reasons why SEI gave Goucher College a B+ grade.

"We've been working hard to make Goucher more sustainable and we were happy to see that reflected in a higher grade," Goucher spokesperson Kory Dodd said.

Goucher mandated that new construction and major renovation must at least meet LEED silver standards.

The college has also purchased Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to match 25 percent of projected electricity consumption for the next three years.

Hopkins does not purchase RECs.

According to the report Hopkins provided to SEI, "the school believes that the purchase of RECs is ineffective, inappropriate and unsustainable." Bookhart was unable to elaborate before the press deadline.

Goucher College has a student-run food organization that collects and composts waste for a garden, and its products are then sold to campus dining, Dodd said.

Though Campus Dining has no formal policy on purchasing organic or sustainably-produced food, "if it's available locally, we do our best to buy it locally - providing the quality and quantity available meets our needs and specifications," Furhman said.

The University's lowest grades came in the categories of Endowment Transparency and Shareholder Engagement.

Hopkins received a grade of F in both categories because it does not make its endowment public.

"I don't really understand how disclosure of endowment holdings has to do with the environment and green technology," University spokesman Dennis O'Shea said.

According to Dodd, Goucher makes its endowment holdings available to the public upon request, but does not publicize the voting record of its shareholders.

Bookhart said that ultimately the grade will have no impact on how Hopkins moves forward in its initiatives.

"Our decisions are based on what helps move us closer to our vision of sustainability, not what an amateur ranking group thinks," he said.

Dining plans to implement the JHU Dining Community Link Program, which will come into effect on Oct. 29.

The new program will "promote heightened consciousness of the interdependence of our campus dining program and local food producers," Furham said.

Hopkins spends $700,000 on food that is grown or processed locally.