University of British Columbia

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

The University of British Columbia, a Talloires Declaration signatory, has committed to sustainability targets in social, ecological, and economic areas, including a 25 percent reduction in campus emissions below 2000 levels by 2010. To accomplish these goals, a sustainability office was created, which provides assistance in such efforts as LED-designed buildings and a comprehensive ECOT rek campus energy and water retrofit. The office also manages a sustainability coordinator program, a group of 150 coordinators in different campus units that assist the community in making their actions more sustainable.

The Sustainability Street Project was designed to be the world’s first closed-loop system of water recycling and re-use that integrates storm water management, wastewater treatment, and ground source heating. The University's ECOTrek program, the largest water and energy retrofit in any Canadian university, was finalized this year and has tallied energy savings that represent a reduction of 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The program is saving the University $2.5 million annually as a result of a 20 percent reduction in energy use. Since 1990, carbon dioxide emissions per square meter of building have been reduced by 30 percent. The University has purchased enough renewable energy credits to power the electrical engineering building and the Aquatic Ecosystems Resource Laboratory. A seven-kilowatt solar array was also installed on the roof of the engineering building.

Dining services is part of the Farm-to-College program, which works to link local farmers and produce suppliers to area universities and colleges. Most of the campus's local and organic foods come from the university farm, but measures are being taken to increase the supply of such foods to include other area farms. Dining services has also adopted a sustainable seafood policy. Used cooking oil is converted to a 20 percent biodiesel fuel for all plant operations vehicles. A comprehensive recycling and composting program has reduced the waste stream significantly as a part of the larger WasteFree UBC program.

The University's campus features an array of green buildings, some of which have been LEED Silver- and Gold-certified. All new buildings are expected to be able to achieve a LEED Silver rating at a minimum. The approval of $120 million was recently attained to perform deferred maintenance on existing buildings in order that new ones need not be built.

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

The University 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 University has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy.