Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT has an Environment, Health, and Safety Policy that embraces sustainability principles, a Green Goods Procurement Policy, and a Campus Energy Task Force that works to deepen development and implementation of campus programs focused on conservation, efficiency, and sustainable design. There are four full-time and one part-time sustainability administrators.

MIT continually updates its carbon emissions inventory as part of its energy management program. The institute works closely with its municipality to advance collective climate protection goals. MIT is undertaking numerous efficiency upgrades and conservation measures, as well as expanding the 25 photovoltaic systems that the institute has supported on and near campus.

MIT's food service providers are committed to integrating sustainable food practices. They work with 19 local producers to offer organic produce, milk, honey, and maple syrup, as well as cage-free eggs, antibiotic-free chicken and beef, and fair trade coffee. MIT has a comprehensive recycling program that accepts traditional recyclables as well as computers, electronics, white goods, lumber, metals, mattresses, and tires, with an overall diversion rate over 40 percent.

MIT instituted a green building policy in 2001. Design and construction is guided by a Building Systems Design Handbook that incorporates multiple sustainability requirements. In 2007, MIT registered three new construction projects for LEED certification and incorporates sustainability into its renovation and demolition practices.

All new students receive a guidebook to sustainability at MIT. Paid research internships on campus sustainability issues are available and there are more than 12 student environmental organizations. The campus participates in multiple conservation competitions.

MIT is amply served by municipal transit networks, for which it offers subsidies and incentives for both employees and students. The institute has a bike rental and repair program and utilizes "clean diesel," retrofitted shuttles as well as a range of alternative-fuel vehicles.

The MIT Corporation makes neither a list of endowment holdings nor its shareholder voting record public. This information is available only to trustees and senior administrators.

The MIT Corporation aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in renewable energy funds and community development loan funds.

For complicated or new issues, the MIT Corporation convenes the Advisory Committee for Shareholder Responsibility, made up of two trustees, two faculty members, two staff, and two students, to make recommendations on broad policy questions, including proxy voting guidelines.