Published in January 2018, the Pitt Sustainability Plan identifies 15 impact areas that help focus the University’s sustainability goals and key performance indicators for tracking progress over time. These impact areas are organized into 3 themes and the 61 goals below reflect 2025 amendments.
View 2025 Updates to Sustainability Plan (PDF) View the Sustainability Plan (PDF)
Pitt cares for both the built and the natural environment to ensure responsible and efficient resource management; we will continually strive to minimize the environmental impact of our operations.
Through the integration of a multidisciplinary curriculum, groundbreaking research, and social engagement, Pitt works to educate every member of our community, support our leaders, and promote innovation.
Pitt continues to strengthen its campus and communities by creating a culture of shared responsibility for our impact on surrounding communities, the region, and the world.
The Pitt Sustainability Plan highlights how the University’s initiatives intersect across disciplines, domains, and scales to create sustainable solutions and opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and our campuses.
The Pitt Sustainability Dashboards provide interactive views of progress on select Pitt Sustainability Plan goals. These dashboards strengthen transparency, advance analytic capabilities, and help quantify the University’s impact as a global sustainability leader.
Interactive features allow you to view results at both building and campus scales, while simultaneously selecting variable time frames through which to review data and results. Most dashboards also allow data download (lower right corner, select “Crosstab”).
Our goal is to reach carbon neutrality by 2037 for the Pittsburgh campus, while reducing greenhouse emissions 50% by 2030 (from a 2008 baseline).
We are pursuing LEED Gold green building certification or better for applicable University-owned and partner projects.
We're striving to reduce landfill waste by 25% by 2030 (from 2017 levels).
We support local food economies with a goal of sourcing 30% of food and beverage products locally or sustainably by 2030.
We aim to achieve Pittsburgh 2030 district goals of 50% reduction in energy use intensity (consumption per square foot) by 2030 (below the 2003 national median baseline).
We strive to achieve the Pittsburgh 2030 district goal of 50% reduction in water use intensity (consumption per square foot) by 2030 (below historic district average).
We're working to Increase active and shared commuting to 55% of all commuting trips to Pittsburgh campus by 2030.
Established in 2003, the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation is the oldest and largest sustainability research, teaching, and outreach center at Pitt, collaborating with all of 16 of Pitt’s sustainability-related centers
The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance created by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The University of Pittsburgh has long-used AASHE STARS as a tracking mechanism, but first achieved certification in 2018. Pitt’s AASHE STARS documentation is public online and the university must re-certify every 3 years.
To better understand how Pitt can serve vulnerable students, Pitt’s Campus Basic Needs Committee, deployed the #RealCollege survey for the first time in Fall 2020. Created in 2015 by the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University, the #RealCollege survey reveals the lived experiences of today’s students outside of classroom instruction and is now the nation’s largest and most well-established annual assessment of students’ basic needs.
In 2014, the University of Pittsburgh was a Founding Property Partner of the Pittsburgh 2030 District‘s Oakland boundary. Since then, Pitt has worked closely with Green Building Alliance and other Pittsburgh 2030 District Partners towards achieving 50% reductions in energy use, water use, and transportation emissions (below baselines) by the year 2030. In 2018, Pitt embraced the 2030 Challenge goals University-wide, contributing towards short- and long-term successes improved indoor and air quality, increased returns on investment, and growing campus and regional success.
