As Boston University students studied hard to get high grades on their midterms, sustainability@BU was also working hard to achieve top scores on the College Sustainability Report Card.
The fifth edition report card, released by the Sustainable Endowments Institute on Wednesday, gave BU an overall B thanks to the university’s “green efforts.”
The overall grade remains unchanged from last year’s report card.
BU was also one of the 120 schools that earned the “Campus Sustainability Leaders” distinction for earning an average grade of A- or better for all the campus categories.
From April through September, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave out four surveys to “gather information about sustainability in campus operations, dining services, endowment investment practices and student activities,” according to the report website.
The report assessed 322 schools in the United States and Canada on nine different categories, ranging from green buildings to student involvement.
According to the report, more than half of the schools earned an overall grade of a B or better.
Only 16 percent received an A, it said.
The report gave BU A’s for its investment priorities, transportation, student involvement, and food and recycling.
The university’s lowest ranking was a D for shareholder engagement, which was the weakest category for all schools, according to the report.
The category was based on how well schools formed shareholder responsibility committees, the report said.
Dennis Carlberg, the sustainability director at the facilities management and planning department, said sustainability@BU is happy about BU’s ranking.
“Getting a B is something to be proud of,” he said. “We are glad we are at a B, it shows that we’ve made a progress and it shows there is still work to be done. I think it’s pretty accurate.”
Carlberg said the biggest stride for sustainability@BU has been communicating with the BU community.
“We take a broad approach to sustainability – looking at everything from engagement of the students and faculty and staff to getting things done within the buildings, the recycling, having the sustainability@BU festival and other events,” he said.
Carlberg said although BU has maintained stability with the grades compared to last year, it has made progress in the climate and energy category.
“Last year we were at a D in that category and this year we are at a B,” he said.
Carlberg said they have been raising awareness through their website.
“Just getting that foundation in place was a big accomplishment,” he said.
The group also has sustainability liaisons in every school on campus, including the Medical Campus.
“Everything we do we look to do on both campuses,” he said. “We are really trying to beef up what’s happening on the medical campus.”
As far as improvement goes, Carlberg said sustainability@BU aims to improve its grades in the climate action plan, energy conservation efforts and green buildings categories.
“Those are the three key pieces, I think, for the next year,” he said.
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