Smith College

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

In 2004, President Carol T. Christ signed a voluntary agreement with Clean Air–Cool Planet to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions. An energy manager is shared with the other schools of Five Colleges, Incorporated, and an on-campus Green Team work to further initiatives on campus. Recent successes have included a large wind power purchase, a 5+ star rating from Energy Star for a new housing project, and an extensive lighting retrofit program.

Efforts have included an ongoing lighting retrofit project, which included a retrofit of the large gymnasium lights, a temperature setback program, and the Million Monitor Drive. Smith College is also part of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Purchasers, a group of eight colleges that bought 20,500 megawatt-hours of wind energy in January 2006. Energy use at Smith has recently experienced a four percent reduction through efficiency and conservation efforts, and other initiatives have included alternative boiler fuels and student energy conservation campaigns. A cogeneration facility that is currently under construction will effectively cut the campus's emissions in half.

The College's dining service purchases a significant amount of local and organic food, and makes a conscious effort to address sustainability in its operations, purchases, and recycling measures.

The new Ada Comstock Scholar Housing Project received a 5+ star rating from Energy Star for energy efficiency. The new engineering and molecular sciences building, tentatively scheduled for groundbreaking in 2007, is set to meet LEED Silver certification standards.

The College has no known policy of disclosure of endowment holdings or its shareholder voting record.

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 Committee on Investor Responsibility (CIR), created in 1979, formulates guidelines for Smith's money managers to follow when voting proxies. The CIR consists of two students, two faculty, two administrators, and two members from the board of trustees.