Grinnell College

Grinnell has adopted a statement of environmental responsibility as well as master plan sustainability goals. The environmental and safety coordinator spends 70 percent of his time on sustainability issues and there is a Campus Advisory Committee on Environmental Concerns.

Grinnell has set an emissions reduction goal of 20 percent below anticipated 2010 levels. The college is constructing a 4-megawatt wind turbine that will provide approximately 50 percent of campus electricity. In January 2007, construction was completed on a 50-kilowatt wind turbine at the Conard Environmental Research Area. The turbine meets over 90 percent of the center's energy needs and offsets about 200,000 pounds of carbon per year.

Dining services uses local, organic products for most of the staple ingredients in the dining halls, including organic flour. Food compost is delivered to a local farmer and yard waste is composted through the city of Grinnell. At the end of the school year, the college collects reusable items being disposed of by students and donates them to local thrift stores or sells them during orientation.

The design features of all new buildings must conform to LEED-certified standards. The East Campus dorms are LEED-certified and the environmental education center at the Conard Environmental Research Area received a LEED Gold rating. Dorms have direct-digital temperature controls that shut off heating or cooling when they sense open windows in dorm rooms.

The college has begun the Dorm Environmental Coordinator Program, which will hire students to serve as sustainability coordinators within their dorms. The college has designated a college-owned house to become an eco-house. Free the Planet is the student environmental group.

The college fleet contains two hybrid vehicles and one electric truck. Grinnell has a Yellow Bike program that provides free bicycles for student use.

The college makes a list of endowment holdings available to all members of the school community, including faculty, staff, students, and alumni. This information is available upon request at the investment office. The college does not make its shareholder voting record public.

The college aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in both renewable energy funds and community development loan funds. Grinnell's investment policy features a social responsibility provision that includes environmental/sustainability factors. In addition, the college continues to work with managers who directly invest in companies focused on improved environmental/sustainability outcomes.

The college asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.