Going green

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting Johns Hopkins University's goals articulated in the Ten by Twenty vision plan, 10 goals to be reached by the year 2020.

Since 2009, Johns Hopkins has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent, as the university continues to march closer toward the goal of cutting the level of its 2008 emissions by 51 percent by 2025. This and other key metrics were included in a comprehensive report published in spring 2016 by the university's Office of Sustainability highlighting initiatives across all campuses that show progress the university is making toward its goal of reducing its carbon footprint.

In other areas:

• Waste diversion continues to improve at the university, with continually expanding opportunities to recycle and compost across our campuses
• Efforts to source "real food" and host more sustainable events persist throughout the institution
• In 2015, Johns Hopkins joined colleges and universities across the nation in signing the Act on Climate Pledge, committing the university to increase its energy efficiency; conserve resources; and continue to foster groundbreaking research in the fields of climate change, public health, energy, and sustainability
• As part of the Idea Lab challenge, spring of 2016 marked the launch of a new Hopkins Eco-Smart Acorn Grant to encourage innovative projects to improve sustainability
• In October 2016, JHU co-sponsored the annual conference hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, held in Baltimore

To strengthen its position as one of the world's premier academic research institutions, Johns Hopkins must marshal the required resources, policies, and arrangements to support the advancement of our academic mission.

This includes gathering information and creating processes that appropriately inform decision-making; fortifying its competitiveness for federal and other research funding; and growing its endowment through philanthropy and other sources of investment.

Through these efforts, Johns Hopkins will build an even stronger university, one that is able to invest strategically in our core academic priorities and the groundbreaking discoveries of tomorrow.

A reduced carbon footprint and environmentally conscious practices align with Goal No. 8 of the Ten by Twenty, to strengthen the institutional, budgetary, technological, and policy frameworks necessary to set priorities, allocate resources, and realize the highest standards of academic excellence.