TCU Green Rating

What’s TCU’s Green rating? The most recent green rating was published in August 2008 by the Princeton Review. TCU scored a 78 on a 60 – 99 scale. Here is how other Texas universities scored on the same rating.
Scale: 60 –99

UT Austin – 60
UTA - 60
Rice - 60
UNT -60
SMU - 69
UT Dallas - 70
Baylor - 78
TCU -78

The Princeton Review published the Green Rating Honor Roll of the 11 universities that scored a perfect “99.” Read more about these universities.

Read the TCU Magazine's article, The Future of TCU is Right Here, that provides an excellent overview of what TCU is doing to go GREEN.
TCU signed the President’s Climate Commitment in the summer of 2008.

Approximately 600 colleges and universities have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The stated mission is, "The American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment is a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate."
TCU was rated a D+ within the 2008 College Sustainability Report Card. See the 2008 and 2007 grades for TCU below. For information on how other universities were rated, click here.

2008 Texas Christian University Endowment $1.2 billion
OVERALL GRADE: D+

ADMINISTRATION – Grade: D
D Texas Christian University is taking preliminary measures to address issues pertaining to sustainable development, particularly in the fields of green building and energy conservation.  However, there is not yet a formal policy addressing sustainability, nor is there a sustainability coordinator at the university.

CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY – Grade: D
Since 1996, the university has pursued an aggressive energy conservation and retrofit program, spending in excess of $30 million to replace all chilled water production systems, pumping systems, air handling units, and boilers with high-efficiency units. Lighting was retrofitted with energy-efficient lamps, electronic ballasts, and motion sensors. However, the university has not made any attempt to purchase or utilize renewable sources of energy.

FOOD & RECYCLING – Grade: C
The Main Grain, a university dining hall, offers some organic items. A few campus locations offer fair-trade coffee. In response to student feedback, TCU food service has switched to utensils made of potato starch, as well as straws and to-go containers made from paper pulp. The grounds crew composts yard waste, and although no official recycling program exists, a moderate amount of recycling takes place.

GREEN BUILDING – Grade: C
The university has a stated goal to design new buildings and major retrofits for LEED certification. The most recent new building currently under design, a 145,000-square-foot university union, will be registered for LEED certification. Additionally, the university has four LEED-certified engineers and architects.

TRANSPORTATION – Grade: B
TCU’s new Purple Bike Program was created in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles on campus by encouraging students to ride bicycles free of charge. The facilities master plan moved parking to the perimeter of the campus to support a pedestrian- and bike-friendly campus. Buses and trains can be used free of charge with a valid university ID.

ENDOWMENT TRANSPARENCY – Grade: F

The university has no known policy of disclosure of endowment holdings or its shareholder voting record. Therefore, there is no known ability to access this information.

INVESTMENT PRIORITIES – Grade: C
The university aims to optimize investment return and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

SHAREHOLDER ENGAGEMENT – Grade: F
The university has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy.

Data compiled from independent research as well as through a campus sustainability policy survey. Endowment size in upper right corner is as of June 30, 2007. For information on data collection and evaluation, please see the Methods section on page 228. Overall grade on the College Sustainability Report Card 2007 was D. TEXAS CHRISTIAN

2007 Texas Christian University Endowment $1 billion
OVERALL GRADE: D
ADMINISTRATION – Grade: D
Texas Christian University is taking preliminary measures to address issues pertaining to sustainable development, particularly in the fields of green building and energy conservation. However, there is not yet a formal policy addressing sustainability nor is there a sustainability coordinator at the university.