Pitt Nitrogen Inventory for FY22

Learn about Pitt’s annual Nitrogen Inventory, a complement to the annual greenhouse gas inventory.

The University of Pittsburgh’s nitrogen footprint analysis was completed as part of the University’s annual greenhouse gas inventorying process.  For fiscal year 2022, Pitt’s net nitrogen footprint totaled 129.95 metric tons, a 30% decrease from FY19 (the first year the Nitrogen inventory was performed). However, this footprint is up 28.5% over FY21, primarily due to the food and wastewater categories.

Pitt used the Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP) to calculate its nitrogen footprint, which measures “the amount of reactive nitrogen released to the environment from a campus’ resource consumption. Examples of reactive nitrogen include water pollutants nitrate and ammonium, air quality pollutants ammonia and nitrogen oxides, and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. According to SIMAP, “Reactive nitrogen can result from everyday activities like food service, energy use, transportation, and ground fertilizer. Reducing your nitrogen footprint can provide benefits to air quality, water quality, and climate change.”

Check out the full FY22 Nitrogen Inventory for the University’s Pittsburgh campus.

For comparison, check out Pitt’s FY21 Nitrogen Footprint. All Pitt Nitrogen Inventories for the Pittsburgh campus are available on the Commitments & Reports page.