University of New Hampshire

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

Former Interim President Newman signed the Presidents Climate Commitment and UNH is a signatory to the Talloires Declaration. The Office of Sustainability, established in 1997, is the oldest endowed university sustainability program in the country, and is run by a chief sustainability officer who oversees three full-time and four part-time staff. The energy task force, a multi-stakeholder coalition formed in 2005, works with the Office of Sustainability and the Energy Office to address energy and emissions concerns.

UNH has been ranked in the top 5 percent of universities in its peer group for energy efficiency. In partnership with Clean Air–Cool Planet, UNH developed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory calculator, using it to document the university’s emissions from 1998 through 2005. In 2008, UNH will become the first university in the nation to use renewable landfill methane gas as its primary energy source. The cogeneration plant, fueled mostly by landfill gas, will reduce the Durham campus’s emissions approximately 57 percent below 1990 levels.

UNH signed the Slow Food Principles in May 2006; purchases from 20 to 30 local and regional farms and producers, including the student Organic Garden Club site and two other on-campus farms; incorporates cage-free and fair-trade products into the menu; hosts an annual award-winning Local Harvest Dinner; and diverts approximately 90 percent of organic waste and 85 percent of recyclable waste through expansive composting and recycling programs.

Eight UNH buildings were awarded the first Energy Star ratings for residence halls in the country. The university’s design guidelines mandate energy efficiency and include some consideration of environmental impact both on-site and through materials acquisition, and more sustainable elements are being considered for full incorporation into building design and construction guidelines.

The transportation program includes free bike rentals, a carpool lot and program, free shuttles that circulate around campus and connect to off-campus destinations and transportation hubs, a fleet of eight buses that run on a 20 percent biodiesel blend, six compressed natural gas shuttle buses, an all-electric utility van, and hybrid vehicles available for rent by the campus community.

The UNH Foundation publicly offers detailed information about asset allocation and performance on its website.

The System and Foundation aim to optimize investment returns and have not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The Foundation is invested in funds and therefore does not have the ability to vote proxies.