University of Louisville

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

In 2004, the University of Louisville established a Partnership for a Green City with Louisville Metro Government and the Jefferson County Public Schools to work collaboratively on sustainability issues. The University is working on global sustainability issues at the Kentucky Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development, but the focus of this Institute is not geared toward campus sustainability.

As part of the University's energy conservation measures, energy audits have been conducted on some buildings, Vending Misers have been installed on soda machines, and some lighting and electric motor retrofits have been performed under the Energy Star program. The University has helped install three solar hot water systems in local schools and is installing another system to provide hot water to one university building. The University is conducting a pilot study project using photovoltaic-powered streetlights and also has a pilot project in progress that is exploring alternative light shelves. The potential of using a B20 biofuel mix for the campus's diesel vehicles is being researched, as well.

The University recycles, but its contracted food services provider has not addressed sustainability issues in its operations.

The University is building a Regional Biosafety Laboratory (RBL), which is slated to meet LEED Silver certification. Once complete, it will one of only 17 RBL laboratories built to LEED standards.

The proxy voting record and a list of endowment holdings are made available to the university community and also to the public, and are available at the investment office or the vice president's office, but would only be released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The University prioritizes investing to maximize profit and is also invested in community development financial institutions or loan funds on a very small scale.

For managed portfolios, the University asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting. For direct investments, a member of the university administration determines the University's proxy votes.