Sierramagazine has published its “Cool Schools†survey, which purports to rank the sustainability efforts of colleges and universities. Stanford ranked fifth this year, behind Green Mountain College, Dickinson College, Evergreen College and the University of Washington.
The publication singled out in particular the university’s Global Climate and Energy Project. On a 10-point scale, the publication gave Stanford a 5.1 for energy supply, 7 for efficiency, 5.5 for food, 9 for academics, 9 for transportation, 10 for waste, 8 for purchasing, 9 for administration, 10 for other initiatives and 10 for investment. The publication’s website includes Stanford’s entire response.
The survey has come in for plenty of criticism. A Chronicle of Higher Education blog on Aug. 17 notes that many colleges and universities fluctuated greatly in their rankings, apparently as a result of changes in Sierra’s methodology. As an example, Stanford went from 26th to fifth.
Stanford is among a group of 30 colleges and universities that recently signed a letter asking sustainability surveys to follow a set of principles to bring transparency, fairness and consistency to the many green surveys now being created.
