A power purchase agreement, collaborations with campus wellness initiatives, and increased transportation options are areas of significant achievement toward the goals of the University of Pennsylvania’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0, outlined in the latest Climate and Sustainability Action Plan.

The Penn Sustainability Office has just released the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report, based on data and metrics from fiscal year 2020 gathered from across many academic and administrative units at the University. The Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report documents Penn’s progress towards the goals of the 2019 Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 (CSAP 3.0), tracking metrics in Academics, Utilities & Operations, Physical Environment, Waste Minimization & Recycling, Purchasing, Transportation, and Outreach & Engagement.

“With this sustainability report, Penn is tracking progress on our Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 goals, and providing public, transparent reporting of our sustainability initiatives,” explained Anne Papageorge, Penn’s Vice President for Facilities & Real Estate Services.

This report offers an annual, comprehensive, graphic, and concise presentation of progress in key metrics during the previous fiscal year. Some FY20 highlights include:

Academics

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Expand tracking and reporting of student enrollment in sustainability-related majors, minors, and concentrations.

FY20 Progress: Supporting Penn’s goal of increasing student enrollment in sustainability courses, this past year saw nearly 30% of Penn students enrolled in a sustainability-related course.

Utilities & Operations

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Reduce Penn’s overall carbon footprint towards our 2042 carbon neutrality goal.

FY20 Progress: Penn signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) designed to offset carbon emissions equal to 75% of total campus electricity demand for the academic campus and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (Almanac April 21, 2020).

Physical Environment

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Improve Penn’s Landscape Ecology Practices.

FY20 Progress: Penn’s Landscape Architecture staff, along with Student Eco-Reps, developed bird-friendly campus design guidelines to reduce the number of bird strikes on campus (Almanac August 4, 2020).

Waste Minimization & Recycling

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Increase Penn’s Overall Waste Diversion and Minimize Waste Sent to Landfill.

FY20 Progress: With most students, faculty, and staff working remotely, Penn has reduced its solid waste by 23% in FY20 compared to its baseline year of 2009.

Purchasing

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Increase procurement of sustainable food products.

FY20 Progress: Penn Purchasing Services launched a new catering website “Catering@Penn” which includes sustainability criteria in vendor ranking (Almanac January 28, 2020). The new and interactive webpage is hosted on the Purchasing Services website.

Transportation

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Have an accessible and safe campus for bicyclists and pedestrians.

FY20 Progress: Two new Indego bike share stations were installed at 34th and Chestnut and 34th and Spruce Streets. The Penn Community now has access to 6 Indego stations near campus.

Outreach & Engagement

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Expand and Strengthen Existing Outreach Programs.

FY20 Progress: Environmental wellness has been incorporated as a formal component of the Wellness at Penn Initiative. The Wellness at Penn website (Almanac January 30, 2018) provides a number of resources related to sustainability and the environment.

A PDF of the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report is available on the Penn Sustainability website.

Penn Sustainability is a University-wide initiative to advance environmental sustainability at the University of Pennsylvania, and coordinate programs to develop a more sustainable campus. Visit sustainability.upenn.edu.

—Penn Sustainability