Rutgers University

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

A green purchasing policy states that Rutgers is committed to the use and purchase of environmentally and socially responsible materials and products. In 2005, Rutgers established the University Committee for Sustainability; membership includes students, faculty, and staff. The committee will release the first baseline report of sustainable performance at the university. Student interns in the purchasing department work on sustainability initiatives. Rutgers won an thinkMTV competition granting $10,000 to eco-renovate one of the student centers as a result of student efforts.

The Facilities Energy Conservation Program reinvests utility rebates and verified electrical savings into further conservation projects. Installations include lighting retrofits and variable frequency drives. The utilities department has been replacing underground hot water heating pipes; this will result in almost $2.5 million in fuel savings for the university. A 1.4-megawatt solar farm is being installed on the Livingston campus, which will generate over 2 million kilowatt-hours per year.

Rutgers purchases Jersey Fresh produce when in season and offers fair-trade coffee on campus. Dining hall food scraps are pulped and picked up by a nearby cattle farmer for use as feed.

Environmentally conscious practices have been incorporated into the university’s design and construction policies. All new buildings at Rutgers must comply with LEED Silver standards or above. The university mandates that construction materials such as concrete, soil, and carpeting be recycled.

All university-owned, diesel-powered vehicles run on biodiesel fuel, and the fleet includes 18 natural gas vehicles. Within the next year, as the contract with the bus company is renewed, there will be buses using a variety of alternative fuels. The New Brunswick campus has a bike library that recycles bikes to be sold to the community and loans bikes, as well.

The university has no known policy of disclosure of endowment holdings or its shareholder voting record. Therefore, there is no known ability to access this information.

The university aims to optimize investment return and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The university aims to optimize investment return and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.