Welcome from the Associate Vice President

First, I want to thank our leadership and all the University’s students, faculty, and staff who have committed to move Boston University forward on climate and sustainability. Climate action requires us all to work together. As BU’s sustainability office celebrates its 15th anniversary, I feel this is a time to reflect on the progress the University has made. In 2008, BU had exactly one outdoor recycling bin, the result of the Environmental Student Organization’s advocacy. Now, Bigbelly recycle bins are ubiquitous on campus, paired with solar trash compactors that improve our Zero Waste efforts and allow for facilities staff to focus on other priorities. In 2008, the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program was viewed with skepticism and certification was intentionally not pursued. So much has changed since then, with 24 LEED-certified buildings and spaces on campus. The most impactful change was the adoption of our Climate Action Plan in 2017. This Plan provides BU with a set of guiding principles to prepare our campuses for the impacts of climate change, reduce our emissions, promote climate change education and research, and integrate this Plan into the University’s Strategic Plan.

This report’s By the Numbers section tells the story of how the University’s sustainability efforts have progressed, but in a nutshell, BU is leading on many fronts:

Our rapidly changing climate requires us to act together and intentionally. In many ways, BU is leading, but more importantly, we share the knowledge with our peers. This collaboration will benefit our university and other institutions as we accelerate our efforts to act on climate change. In 2023, the BU Sustainability team connected with over 22,000 colleagues locally and around the world. We were a host institution for the annual AASHE Conference. We presented at 18 national conferences and workshops and gave over 100 tours of the fossil fuel-free Center for Computing & Data Sciences. If we act alone, our efforts will simply not matter. Collaborating and learning from one another allows us to take on climate challenges in our work for a more just and sustainable world.

I would also like to celebrate some firsts for BU with you. For the first time, the University achieved STARS Gold, a standard that addresses the breadth of campus sustainability efforts from academics and operations to student engagement and governance. The Center for Computing & Data Sciences achieved LEED Platinum certification, a first for BU. While the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development building has hosted seven solar panels for over a decade, this year saw the first major solar installation, with 2,240 solar panels installed across four buildings designed to generate over 1.1 million kWh of electricity annually for BU.

Now that we have reduced our emissions by 65%, we need to look ahead and build on the lessons we have learned since implementing the Climate Action Plan. 78% of our remaining scope 1 and 2 emissions come from the natural gas we burn for heating our buildings. This year, we will begin to update our Climate Action Plan, focusing on the strategies needed to more effectively decarbonize how we heat existing buildings and the construction of new buildings.

But what is at the heart of our work is our students. Whether it’s engaging with students at events like the Sustainability Festival and Earth Day 365, supporting the over 30 sustainability-related student organizations, or the work our Resident Sustainability Leaders do at Warren Towers and West Campus – it is meeting these future climate leaders every day that makes working at BU so special. Fifteen years on, I have had the privilege to work with over 200 student employees, many of them honing their craft in the world of sustainability and then moving on from BU to make an even greater impact in the world. These students, current, former, and future, are what make me most proud of the work we do at Boston University.

I encourage you to watch for things to come, and please review the rest of the report to learn more about the University’s accomplishments in 2023.