University of Virginia
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

The University of Virginia Cornerstone Plan focuses on the development of leadership among students, faculty and staff; leadership in pedagogy, clinical care and research; and leadership in higher education. Though sustainability isn't specifically called out, all of the University's strategic sustainability initiatives outlined in UVA'S Sustainability Plan align with the Cornerstone Plan. Five “pillars” form the foundation of the plan, supported by 15 individual strategies. Together, the pillars articulate the University’s broad vision for the future while the strategies identify specific action items to make that vision a reality.

The pillars are as follows:

- Extend and strengthen the University’s distinctive residential culture;
- Strengthen the University’s capacity to advance knowledge and serve the commonwealth, the nation and the world through research, scholarship, creative arts and innovation;
- Provide educational experiences that deliver new levels of student engagement;
- Assemble and support a distinguished faculty; and
- Steward the University’s resources to promote academic excellence and affordable access.

Bicycle Master Plan, Brandon Avenue Master Plan, Grounds Plan, Landscape Master Plan:

http://www.officearchitect.virginia.edu/index.php/sustainability-planning

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goals: Enhance sustainability-focused teaching and curricular development. Utilize the Grounds as a learning tool through collaboration between operational and academic units.

Actions:

o Establish a Program Manager or Director for Sustainability Curriculum position, with administrative support, for interdisciplinary sustainability degree programs.
o Increase the number of sustainability-focused courses, including hiring cross-disciplinary faculty. Create competitive internal funding or incentives for course development or course release (e.g., a Sustainability Fellowship modeled on Fellowships in Ethics).
o Increase the number of students in sustainability classrooms.
o Move towards a required undergraduate course on sustainability and resilience issues.
o Offer more courses or expand existing programs, including non-traditional courses and programs, such as the Morven Summer Institute, Summer Sustainability Institutes, and non-credit courses.
o Increase the visibility of sustainability-focused and sustainability-related courses.
o Increase the number of interdisciplinary capstone courses.
o Ensure structures are in place to make operations staff and data readily available to faculty and students, with mechanisms to successfully maintain multi-year projects. Use student projects, internships, and fellowships to supplement existing initiatives.
o Develop on-Grounds connections to the Biophilic Cities Project research.
o Energy and Emissions: Partner with schools to create capstone projects related to renewables. Connect energy research to potential implementation on Grounds.
o Water: Continue to utilize existing stormwater management practices as learning tools. Develop additional synergies between water resources on Grounds and teaching and research opportunities.
o Identify a means of estimating the social cost of water.
o Expand the water footprint model research to understand impacts of our indirect water use.
o Materials/Waste: Create projects to assist departments in analyzing impacts of decisions via lifecycle costing and analysis.
o Land/Building Use: Create projects related to increasing utilization of open space and access to the outdoors on Grounds.
o Food: Support student-led projects to increase student education and awareness of food sustainability and health.
o Civic Engagement: Promote the Global Environments + Sustainability Major, and enable students to undertake sustainability/social justice projects.

Metrics and Measures of Success: Funding available to support the objectives, the number of sustainability-focused courses, the number of departments offering sustainability courses, the number of student projects related to sustainability, and the number of students enrolled in courses.

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goals: Enhance sustainability research and UVA’s reputation as a locus of sustainability. Utilize the Grounds as a learning tool through collaboration between operational and academic units.

Actions:
o Increase the visibility of UVA sustainability research internally, nationally, and internationally.
o Partner and collaborate in the creation of a cross-University Resilience Institute.
o Establish a fund to support annual symposiums with outside and local participation.
o Incorporate more sustainability-related research news into the UVA communication avenues.
o Increase the number of sustainability research projects and publications by UVA faculty.
o Ramp up the number of extramural dollars for sustainability research.
o Offer competitive summer research funding to support collaborative research.
o Encourage transdisciplinary research and integration across schools and disciplines.
o Fund Sustainability Colloquia to foster connections between researchers.
o Post a clearinghouse of current projects on a UVA website.

Metrics and measures of success: Funding available to support the objectives,
the number of sustainability-focused courses.

Additionally, in June 2017 UVA selected the Environmental Resilience Institute for funding as a pan-University institute. "The Environmental Resilience Institute will seek to accelerate solutions to urgent social-environmental challenges such as coastal flooding and storm impacts in coastal regions, as well as water security. This requires collaborative research where human, natural and infrastructure systems converge and that integrates new models, sensing tools, big data, narratives, designs and behavioral research." (https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-launches-new-institutes-one-environment-one-global-infections and https://www.news.virginia.edu/content/new-institute-looks-action-face-climate-change)

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goals: Increase sustainability awareness within the UVA community.

Actions:
Education:
o Provide all new students and employees an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming in which sustainability is a prominent component.
o Develop sustainability-focused professional development opportunities for UVA students and employees. Broaden participation in training related to diversity, inclusion and a respectful workplace.
o Host a speaker on diversity and sustainability annually.

Communication:
o Develop a sustainability communications plan that integrates sustainability into mainstream communications.
o Expand sustainability outreach programs to new and wider audiences within UVA.
o Annually expand and refine new and existing programs, projects, and events in creative ways, including social, economic, and environmental sustainability, while reaching wider audiences.
o Achieve 50% faculty and staff participation in sustainability outreach programs and events such as Earth Week, Green Workplace, Sustainability Partners and Green Labs.
o Create tools that allow the UVA community to identify and communicate sustainability opportunities in real-time.
Assessment:
o Create a sustainability literacy survey to assess student sustainability awareness of both global and local topics, particularly UVA’s sustainability goals, administered upon entering UVA and again when graduating.
o Develop tools to assess staff and faculty sustainability awareness and critical thinking.

Measures of Success: Percentage of incoming students and employees participating in sustainability-related orientation activities, increased scores on sustainability literacy assessments, number of community members participating in regular dialogue, and percentage of student engaged in community service..

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goals: Increase sustainability engagement beyond Grounds.

Actions:
o Establish a baseline and set a goal to increase the percentage of students and employees involved in sustainability-related community service.
o Engage neighborhood associations, the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and key area stakeholders in regular sustainability dialogue.
o Leverage partnerships with the Office of Advancement, UVA Foundation, City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, the College at Wise, Commonwealth of Virginia, and institutes of higher education across the country to advance strategic initiatives with broad impact.
o Leverage partnerships with local and regional non-profit organizations to collaborate on programs that benefit the community.

Measures of Success: Percentage of incoming students and employees participating in sustainability-related orientation activities, increased scores on sustainability literacy assessments, number of community members participating in regular dialogue, and percentage of student engaged in community service..

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Greenhouse Gas: Reduce GHG emissions 25% below 2009 levels by 2025

UVA Sustainability Plan and UVA Board of Visitors LEED committment:

LEED Silver certification is required for all new construction, and LEED Certified is required for all other buildings.

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Increase efficiency of UVA land and buildings to limit the need for new construction.

UVA Sustainability Plan and Department of Energy Better Buildings Challenge committment:

Reduce building energy use intensity 20% below 2010 levels by 2025

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goals:

Annually increase the percentage of sustainable food and beverages available on Grounds.

Reduce food waste and single-use food serving items sent to landfill by 2030, in alignment with the overall UVA waste goals.

Reduce the energy and water impact of dining operations.

Increase student, staff, and faculty awareness of sustainable food systems and seek to translate this heightened awareness into informed choices.

Collaborate within UVA and with the region, bringing together faculty, staff, students, and dining operations to advance sustainable food systems in the broader community.

http://www.officearchitect.virginia.edu/GroundsPlanWebsite/GPNEW/Introduction/GPHome.html

In accommodating the physical growth and redevelopment that are essential to fulfilling the University’s academic mission, the Plan views the Grounds as an integrated, contiguous series of multi-functional facilities and green spaces linked by a network of natural and man-made systems. Viewing these systems in a holistic relationship will yield more efficient use of available resources, and create a richer, more dynamic environment on Grounds. To accomplish these goals at the scale of the University requires a strategic approach, based on five primary principles reviewed in 2006 and adopted in 2008 by the Board of Visitors. Linking these principles is the overarching concept of sustainability, which asserts that growth and change can be accommodated while resources are conserved for future generations.

•Environmental Quality: to protect and restore our natural environment
•Connectivity: to increase the quality and continuity of linkages throughout the Grounds
•Context: to promote beneficial physical relationships with the surrounding community
•Multi-disciplinary Collaboration: to develop mixed-use facilities in support of academic interaction and collaboration
•Preservation: to maintain and enhance the University’s cultural, building, and landscape resources

A conventional campus plan would focus on defining specific building sites for future growth. Instead, the 2008 Grounds Plan recommends the establishment of Redevelopment Zones, a unique approach to campus planning making use of tools that are normally applied to city and community planning. The Redevelopment Zones (see page 6) target future development to areas where mixed-used infill development and redevelopment of existing facilities will create the greatest possible benefits in accommodating the variety of spaces and uses that comprise the University now and in the future. These targeted zones also allow for the conservation of important green spaces that contribute to the health and identity of the University-at-large.

Please also refer to the development of the redevelopment zones and how they are managed regarding the objectives, strategies and timeframes within the Introduction to the Grounds Plan.

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Increase environmentally preferable purchasing as a percentage of purchases.

Right-sizing fleet and fleet vehicles: UVA has started assessing the fleet through a LEAN Initiative for Facilities Management. Through this process, UVA has laid groundwork that will result in improved processes, reduced waste, and better use of resources. The end goal is to define a high-value fleet that allows UVA staff to perform their duties efficiently, with the least amount of carbon emissions. To achieve this goal, UVA will clearly define the specific duties and physical requirements of new vehicles to be purchased. This enables the fleet managers to right size the replacement vehicle by determining what vehicle best suits the business need. For example, UVA will be able to determine that purchasing a vehicle with a V-6 engine instead of a V-8 engine or use a smaller all-terrain vehicle rather than a full size truck.

Performing a lifecycle cost analysis of the FM fleet to identify the least efficient vehicles, remove them from service, and replace them with optimally sized vehicles.

Implementing new software technology to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Vehicle software controllers that customize and optimize engine calibration, idle speed, shift pattern, and torque management have shown potential fuel savings ranging from 6% to 12%, depending upon application of vehicle.

Developing a cross-functional Fleet Management Working Group with the Office for Sustainability, Parking and Transportation, and other relevant entities to research alternative fuel technologies to be incorporated into FM’s fleet

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Reduce the total tonnage of waste generated at UVA 50% below 2014 amounts by 2030.

Landfill less than 2000 tons of waste annually by the year 2030.

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Reduce potable water use 25% below 2010 levels by 2035

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Cultivate healthy and equitable places for learning, living, and working.

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goals: Consider environmental, governance, social, and ethical issues in managing institutional investment assets.

Actions: In consultation with the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO), prepare and propose to the UVA’s Board of Visitors a resolution to establish an Advisory Committee on Sustainable Investment to put forth recommendations regarding investment matters pertaining to environmental, governance, social, and ethical issues raised by the University community.

Measures of Success: Finalizing and presenting the resolution to the Board of Visitors, Board adoption and implementation of the resolution, and subsequent metrics on EGSE issues presented to and considered by the advisory committee.

UVA Sustainability Plan:

Goal: Cultivate healthy and equitable places for learning, living, and working.

Actions:
o Advocate for policies or programs to encourage healthy lifestyles, such as supporting a smoke-free campus, gym membership incentives, bike commuter incentives, and support for work-life balance.
o Design infrastructure to promote wellness. Include occupant productivity and health in building performance measures–e.g., via Post-Occupancy Evaluations.
o Cultivate active, safe, and pedestrian-friendly communities. Connect UVA and the City of Charlottesville planning efforts to set shared transit goals and collaborate on connectivity-oriented projects.

Metrics and Measures of Success: Improvement shown via Hoos Well employee assessments to gauge work-life balance and health at work. Increased partnerships with CIOs, UVA departments, peer institutions and local government agencies to identify opportunities for tracking and benchmarking for equity and wellness objectives. Improvement in employee satisfaction will be measured by the UVA Academic Staff Survey.

UVA Sustainability Plan and UVA Board of Visitors committment:

Nitrogen: Reduce reactive nitrogen emissions 25% below 2010 levels by 2025

UVA. Board of Visitors Sustainability Commitment (approved in 2011 and updated to include a nitrogen goal in 2013):

"WHEREAS, the University of Virginia has taken a leadership role to promote sustainability,

WHEREAS, the University of Virginia has a long tradition of environmental stewardship guided by values that have come to be recognized as sustainability principles,

Resolved:

The University of Virginia will undertake to reduce both annual greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of reactive nitrogen lost to the environment to levels 25% below year 2009 and 2010 amounts, respectively, by the year 2025.

The University will utilize the highest standards of environmental stewardship and resource conservation and will address other areas of concern beyond greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen, such as waste, water, stream and river protection, noise and light pollution, open space protection, and conservation of the historical and cultural legacy of the community.

The University will educate and engage its students, faculty, staff, and the larger community; contribute to knowledge through research; promote health and well being; and foster public service related to these sustainability principles.

These initiatives will be supported by comprehensive planning for and communication about sustainability.

Initiatives will be evaluated on the basis of benefit, cost and availability of funding.

A report on sustainability will be prepared annually for the President. Progress on sustainability initiatives will be presented to the Board of Visitors every two years"

https://sustainability.virginia.edu/about/overview/commitments.html

Sustainability at the University of Virginia calls for collaboration and ingenuity to promote the well-being of the community, solve local and global challenges through scholarship and practice, educate ethical leaders and steward this special place.

UVA signed the Talliores Declaration in 1991.

The UVA Sustainability Plan is a comprehensive set of objectives to be accomplished during 2016-2020 that enable and ensure ongoing innovation towards achievement of a longer-term vision that strives for the vitality of our environment, health, and investments, both locally and globally.

https://sustainability.virginia.edu/news/reports.html

Additional strategic UVA sustainability research initiatives:

http://www.virginia.edu/vpr/resilience/

https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-launches-new-institutes-one-environment-one-global-infections

https://www.news.virginia.edu/content/new-institute-looks-action-face-climate-change)