Abilene Christian University

College Sustainability Report Card 2010

President Money created an environmental task force in 2008 and announced a plan to follow a three-step strategy of developing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, creating an action plan, and implementing the plan. Other initiatives put forward by the task force include a battery recycling program and a sustainability pledge. In 2007, Abilene Christian University became a signatory to An Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation. The school maintains a sustainability website.

The university's HVAC system has been made more efficient by replacing old equipment and installing a new operating system that includes variable speed drives and digital controls. ACU has completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and has installed a solar hot water heater on a new sports facility.

The university operates a comprehensive recycling program, including batteries. Dining locations offer fair trade coffee.

Buildings at ACU are designed to be energy efficient and make use of natural lighting. The university utilizes low-VOC paints and other sustainable materials in construction and renovations.

Residence facilities competed in an energy-saving contest, ACU Unplugged, during Climate Week 2008. The Campus Outdoor Club is working to change the source of campus electricity from coal to wind.

The maintenance department has replaced many pickup trucks with smaller electric carts, including an electric truck capable of 3,000-pound payloads. The replacement program saves more than 3,000 gallons of gasoline per year.

The university makes neither a list of endowment holdings nor its shareholder voting record public.

The university aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in renewable energy funds.

Most of the school's endowment is in mutual funds or other commingled investment vehicles. For other investments, the university asks its investment managers to handle the details of proxy voting.