Sustainability Goals

Overview

West Virginia University founded its sustainability office in 2008 and has worked to build sustainability into our operations, research and service missions to address global climate change.

WVU has made strides in these efforts culminating most recently in a Silver rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Read about the initiatives the University will take to reduce waste, protect land and water and lower the emissions across our campuses throughout the coming years.

• Reduce Waste
• Protect Land and Water
• Lower Emissions

Want to provide feedback on the proposed sustainability goals? Complete the form by Sept. 20.

Reduce Waste

1. Print 30% fewer pages on campus from FY2022 baseline by FY2028.
2. Require all newly purchased, typical-use desktops, laptops and monitors to carry a third-party sustainability certification by FY2026.
3. Require 30% of construction and demolition waste to be recycled for all capital projects exceeding $1 million by FY2027.
4. Make composting available in all residence halls and buildings with retail dining locations by FY2029.
5. Eliminate 50% of single-use plastics in dining halls, catering and retail dining locations from FY2019 baseline by FY2035.
6. Increase campuswide diversion rate to 50% from FY2019 baseline by FY2035.

Protect Land and Water

1. Complete evaluation of cleaning/janitorial paper products and increase percentage of third-party certified versions by 5% over FY2024 baseline by FY2026.
2. Maintain WVU's 13% tree canopy coverage on campus and plant more canopy tree species than we remove between FY2024 and FY2035.
3. Require low-impact development stormwater management for all projects that affect exterior ground areas greater than 3,000 square feet (where space and geography allow, including parking lot refurbishment) by FY2028.
4. Install water metering on WVU's highest water-using buildings to reduce aggregate potable water use by campus user by 10% from FY2024 baseline by FY2035.
5. Hire dedicated horticulturist to manage the integrated pest management program and landscape design and maintenance by FY2028.

Lower Emissions

1. Increase efficiency of the University's steam use by 15% from FY2024 baseline by FY2030.
2. Create energy efficiency requirements for all new buildings and renovations exceeding $5 million by FY2025 and implement them in FY2027.
3. Reduce WVU’s total building energy usage by 5% per square foot from FY2024 baseline by FY2035.
4. Perform lifecycle costing on all projects that affect central campus systems/building systems that impact energy and water savings beginning in FY2025.
5. Reduce WVU’s state-purchased vehicle fleet by 15% from FY2020 baseline by FY2025.
6. Transition 20% of WVU's remaining fleet vehicles to more sustainable options (e.g., electric, hybrid, updating older models, reducing overall inventory, etc.) from FY2025 baseline by FY2032.
7. Attain Bicycle-Friendly University Gold Status by FY2027.
8. Increase daily ridership of public transportation by 5% over FY2022 baseline by FY2032.
9. Conduct a commuter survey and implement a transportation improvement program by FY2027.
10. Include vendor sustainability practices that contribute to WVU sustainability goals as an evaluation for requests for proposals in applicable categories (including sustainable building materials) by FY2025.
11. Offer flexible options to create complete proteins from whole and natural plant-based sources for each meal at all dining halls by FY2028.
12. Increase purchasing of sustainably and/or ethically produced food from 2% to 10% by FY2035.