Johns Hopkins University

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

The Johns Hopkins Sustainability Initiative has six full-time employees, including a manager of energy and environmental stewardship, who directs initiatives. The President’s Sustainability Committee includes representatives from each of the university’s ten academic divisions and major offices.

On July 23, 2007, the JHU president announced a new climate change policy that sets a vision of carbon neutrality as an overarching goal for the university. A Task Force on Climate Change will be created to develop emissions reduction strategies that can be rolled out into the greater Baltimore region. The university intends to work with wind power developers and with a local dairy farm that converts food and farm wastes into green electricity through anaerobic digestion. Plans are being developed to install solar thermal panels on the recreation center.

Dining services managers prioritize the purchasing of locally sourced produce, seafood, and dairy. Dining services also provides organic, shade-grown coffees, cage-free eggs, and herbs from the university’s garden. Styrofoam to-go containers and plastic bags are being eliminated in favor of biodegradable, recyclable containers.

The university is currently pursuing LEED certification for eight new and existing buildings and considers the feasibility of LEED programs for all new projects. Upgraded fluorescent lighting has reduced the lighting load on one campus by over 40 percent, and many buildings have been retrofitted with energy- and water-saving appliances. The university recently completed the largest green roof in Maryland—a 75,000-square-foot green space on the roof over a parking garage.

JHU has the second largest bus service in the state of Maryland. The shuttles are free to all students, faculty, and staff. As of fall 2007, the shuttles will run on a biodiesel blend and will be retrofitted with diesel oxidation catalysts to reduce emissions. The university offers bike commuting workshops, bike tune-ups, and incentives for participating in the bike program.

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

The university aims to optimize investment return and is exploring renewable energy investment funds and similar strategies.

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