Grand Valley State University

College Sustainability Report Card 2010

Grand Valley State University has a sustainability initiative office and a full-time director of sustainability. The Sustainability Initiative Advisory Council, which consists of administrators, faculty, staff, and students, developed the 2008-2009 Sustainability Initiative Plan and is working on the 2009-2010 Sustainable Community Development Initiative Plan. The university purchases exclusively Energy Star appliances.

GVSU completed its first greenhouse gas inventory in February 2009. The university provides energy data for housing units to raise student awareness. A variety of automatic and planned building setbacks are used to limit energy use from HVAC and lighting systems.

Over one-third of the university's annual food budget goes toward purchasing local foods. GVSU exclusively purchases seafood that meets the standards of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program. All milk on campus is hormone- and antibiotic-free, and all coffee is fair trade. Dining halls on campus are trayless.

All major renovations and new construction projects are designed and built to LEED standards. The university has eight LEED-certified buildings, with two at the Gold level and three at Silver. Another six buildings are being designed or constructed to LEED standards. Including the space under construction, nearly 1 million square feet, representing 19 percent of the university space, meets LEED standards. Eighteen percent of building space on campus includes water-conserving bathroom fixtures, and 80 percent of construction waste is recycled.

The new freshman orientation planner and handbook contains a student sustainability guide. GVSU offers many undergraduate and graduate sustainability internship opportunities as well as service learning projects for students. A variety of sustainability clubs and organizations are run by students on campus, including the Student Senate Sustainability Subcommittee, the Student Environmental Coalition, and the Garden Crew.

All students, faculty, and staff are provided with free public transportation, that includes five bus routes on and around campus. The vehicle fleet includes two hybrids, three electric vehicles, and five fuel-efficient service trucks.

The university reviews the endowment portfolio with the GVSU Endowment Advisory Committee, the board of trustees, and select members of the university community. Certain individual holdings in the private equity area are not readily accessible to the university. The university does not make the shareholder voting record of its commingled funds public.

The university aims to balance optimization of investment return with investment risk, and currently does not invest in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The university does not have the ability to vote proxies, as the entire endowment is invested in mutual funds or other commingled funds.