The Sustainability Office and partners, including the Sustainability & Energy Management Office, track and report progress toward achieving campus goals of environmental stewardship, home-grown innovations, and prosperity for future generations. In addition to telling stories about University of Utah efforts on the Sustainable Utah blog, the Sustainability Office also publishes regular reports.
Reporting on Progress
Climate Commitment and greenhouse gas inventories
The university is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. It will address efforts to achieve this goal through the Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments framework. The commitments including tracking annual greenhouse gas emissions; those inventories are available online.
Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS)
In 2011, the university began tracking its progress with the STARS national framework, developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The University achieved a Silver rating with the 2017 submittal. The university earned STARS Gold in 2020.
Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund (SCIF) annual reports
Bicycle Friendly University Designation
The University of Utah achieved a Gold Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) designation in recognition of the institution’s achievements to promote safe, accessible bicycling on campus. The University's Bicycle Master Plan provides recommendations for improvements in the 5 E’s—Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation to help maintain and improve on this designation. The Active Transportation Manager works with a leadership advisory group to set priorities and implement plan recommendations.
Enhancing Access to Air Quality Education
In conjunction with the October 2019 symposium, The Air We Breathe: A Multidisciplinary Approach on Air Quality, the Sustainability Education team advanced several exciting initiatives to enhance access to interdisciplinary air quality education at the University of Utah. The effort was supported by the Senior Vice President's Office. The report is available online.