University of Pennsylvania
PAE-4: Sustainability Plan

In 2007, Penn created the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Committee (ESAC), made up of faculty, administrators, and students, and chaired by the Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services, and charged this group to develop University-wide recommendations and implementation strategies for a Climate Action Plan. ESAC established six comprehensive themes and disciplines as the most significant avenues for reducing Penn’s carbon footprint and enhancing overall sustainability; subcommittees were assembled to focus on these specific aspects of the broad ESAC goals.

Penn’s Climate Action Plan goals are listed below:
- Academics: “Make climate change and sustainability part of the curriculum and educational experience available to all students and the larger Penn community.”
- Utilities and Operations: Reduce energy usage by 17 percent from the 2007 baseline by 2014.
- Physical Environment: Create and maintain a sustainable campus by increasing green space, decreasing building energy consumption through design and renovations, improving the environmental quality of interior and outdoor spaces and increasing education and awareness of sustainable design.
- Transportation: Plan a quality pedestrian campus environment, encouraging the use of public transportation for commuting, and provide safe, efficient local transportation services for the University community. More than 50% of the University population use alternative transit in daily commuting.
- Waste Minimization & Recycling: Increase Penn’s diversion rate of paper, cardboard, and commingled recyclables from 20 percent in 2008 to 40 percent by 2014.
- Outreach & Engagement: Build a culture of sustainability that informs all constituents of University life.
- Communications: Create a campaign which communicates clear, concise and accurate public information that informs the broad internal Penn community and key external Penn stakeholders about Penn’s Climate Action Plan and its goals.

With the launch of the Climate Action Plan, a new model of reporting was created to ensure transparency and monitor implementation milestones. Sustainability reports containing metrics on six sustainability indicators are submitted quarterly to the Office of the Executive Vice President and the President. In January 2011, Penn submitted a progress report to the ACUPCC, a requirement of the Climate Commitment. Additionally, progress on the University’s Climate Action Plan has been presented to the Trustees’ Facilities and Campus Planning Committee twice since 2009.