Baylor College of Medicine

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

While Baylor College of Medicine does not have a formal policy, some efforts has been made to address sustainability issues. The director of BCM facilities management is assigned with the responsibilities of sustainability coordinator and facilitates a group of faculty, staff, and students to review progress and implement new projects. A website informs the college community of recycling programs.

The College has an electricity conservation program that involves upgrades of old motors and chiller machines to increase energy efficiency; lighting retrofits that result in energy savings of 960,000 kilowatt-hours per year; and a hurricane film that also provides energy savings of 61,320 kilowatt-hours per year. However, no known effort has been made to purchase renewable energy credits or build renewable energy generation capacity.

The College's cafeteria was totally demolished in 2001 due to a massive flood in Houston and food is currently prepared off-site. Construction is currently underway for a new facility that will incorporate sustainable design. Discussions are ongoing regarding management of the full-service facility when it opens in 2007. At that time, additional details will have been finalized with regard to sustainability. The cafeteria staff recently implemented a program to reduce the amount of styrofoam used in food service by offering an alternative paper product, and the College has a recycling program.

The College broke ground in September 2005 for a new research building in which numerous sustainable design measures have been planned, including motion and light sensors to conserve energy, an exterior sun shade and specified glazing to reduce heat gain, and grey-water collection and reuse. A new outpatient facility and hospital will also incorporate sustainable design measures. However, there is no formal green building policy in place and LEED certification has not been pursued.

The College makes neither its proxy voting record nor its list of endowment holdings public. This information is only available to trustees and senior administrators.

The College 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.

The College asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.