Davidson College

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

Davidson College’s campus has been registered as a national arboretum since 1982. All of the trees on campus are physically tagged and updated in a database, and the college has a policy to plant three new trees for every tree lost or removed. The student-run Environmental Action Coalition collaborates with staff for a yearly waste audit and for promoting recycling. The college does not employ a sustainability staff.

Davidson’s physical plant department sponsors a “Chill Out for Energy” program that promotes energy conservation in residence halls. Davidson executed a comprehensive lighting retrofit project for every campus building. The college also constructed a 3,200-ton central chilled water plant that serves 75 percent of the campus square footage. Chilled water is distributed to the campus utilizing a variable-flow, single-loop design rather than a typical primary/secondary heat exchanger design.

Dining services offers fair-trade coffee, uses herbs grown on campus in catering dishes, and offers a reusable mug that may be used in the main dining hall or at the snack bar for a discounted price. Beginning in fall 2007, the college will help implement a composting program in conjunction with the grounds department. Davidson has a comprehensive recycling program that separates construction waste from the household waste stream.

Davidson is completing construction of its first LEED-certified building. While the college does not currently have a green building policy, 10 of the last 15 capital projects were renovations of existing structures rather than new construction projects. The cafeteria has a vegetative roof covering 8,500 square feet. All facilities have been retrofitted with water-restricting showerheads, and most water closets have been replaced with low-flow models.

Through its shared bike program, the college restores abandoned bicycles and offers them for use to the campus community. Davidson owns four hybrid vehicles and provides a free shuttle to local retail areas three days per week during the school year. The landscape master plan restricts traffic to the campus perimeter.

Information on endowment holdings and proxy voting records is made available in the investment office to trustees, senior administrators, and other select members of the school community.

Information on endowment holdings and proxy voting records is made available in the investment office to trustees, senior administrators, and other select members of the school community.

Most of the endowment is invested in commingled funds where the college does not have the ability to vote proxies. In cases in which the college does have the ability to vote proxies, the chief investment officer determines proxy votes.