University of Iowa

College Sustainability Report Card 2010

The University of Iowa has been a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange since 2004. The campus has a sustainability advisory council and a sustainability steering committee. The Office of Sustainability was created in 2008, and the university employs a director of sustainability. Ninety percent of campus copy paper is made from recycled content.

One coal-fired boiler burns oat hull byproducts from a nearby processing plant. The university is an Energy Star Partner, an EPA Combined Heat and Power Partner, and an EPA Green Power Partner. Campus energy goals include a 10 percent reduction in energy use and 15 percent overall renewable energy use by 2010.

Dining services and the Iowa Memorial Union purchase local meat, dairy products, produce, and eggs. The Iowa Memorial Union has begun sourcing produce from a student garden and is working with the Johnson County Local Food Alliance. The campus composts approximately 1.5 tons of preconsumer food waste per week.

All new buildings and major renovations will be built to meet LEED criteria. Currently, seven projects that intend to meet LEED certification criteria are in the planning, design, or construction phases.

The University Environmental Coalition successfully worked for the creation of a sustainable living-learning community, and created an environmental consulting group to advise other groups and offices. The coalition also works on the student garden and is planning to create a bike co-op. Engineers for a Sustainable World is conducting campus energy audits and a wind power feasibility study.

The university has a vanpool program, as well as a formal carpool program, and offers reduced cost bus passes to faculty, staff, and students. The university also provides a carpool-matching service to help users locate others interested in carpooling. A free shuttle operates on campus, and the university's fleet includes electric and hybrid vehicles, as well as trucks and buses that run on a biodiesel blend. Bicycle parking spaces are being upgraded.

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

The university aims to optimize investment return and is exploring, but not currently invested in, renewable energy funds or similar investment vehicles.

Most of the endowment is in mutual funds or other commingled investment vehicles. For separately managed accounts, the university asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.