Princeton University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Princeton University's 2019 Sustainability Action Plan has established an objective to build evidence through academic and operational studies and demonstration projects that use our campus as a lab across all 7 sustainability action areas of the plan.

Princeton University's 2019 Sustainability Action Plan places a premium on accountability and collaboration across University departments, with an objective to engage campus community members and partners through communication and outreach objectives informed by behavioral science, across all 7 areas of the plan.

Princeton University's 2019 Sustainability Action Plan sets out to achieve the following operational objectives:

Reduce Campus Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Net Zero
Reduce Water Usage
Increase Area Under Enhanced Stormwater Management
Design and Develop Responsibly
Cultivate Healthy and Resilient Habitats
Increase Commuters Using Alternatives to Single-Occupancy Vehicles
Reduce Waste and Expand Sustainable Purchasing

Princeton University aspires to be a truly diverse community in which individuals of every gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status can flourish equally. A number of initiatives have been launched that are aimed at enhancing campus diversity and climate.

Most recently, all cabinet officers developed racial equity action plans, with some programs underway and some in development. The plans focus on:
-the strategic goals including the diversification of the faculty and the faculty pipeline;
-staff recruitment and retention;
-diversification of the student body;
-institutional history; and
-the inclusivity of campus climate for all populations.

Further information on these initiatives and more can be found here: https://inclusive.princeton.edu/initiatives/key-initiatives

Princeton's Sustainability Principles were endorsed by President Eisgruber and the Grounds and Building Committee of the Board of Trustees in February 2014

Princeton’s most meaningful global contributions will come from its research, the education of its students, and from the leadership of its graduates.

Princeton’s sustainability goal setting is informed by methodical, science-based, and multi-perspective analyses.

Near-term (2-10 yr) sustainability goals “stretch” beyond those that are currently achievable, and they exist within a visionary, aspirational framework.

Planning and development related to the physical campus have sustainability as a core priority.

Holistic benefits (educational, cultural, research) as well as financial considerations over multiple time horizons are integral components of Return-on-Investment analyses related to campus sustainability implementation.

Princeton carbon emission reductions produce results that are “additional” to regulatory or market driven reductions that would happen anyway, and are rigorously verifiable.

Princeton is committed to a “campus as a living laboratory” approach that engages the campus community in rigorous inquiry and demonstration of principled pathways to sustainability.

Princeton fosters community-wide awareness and action and is an exemplar of repeatable best practices for other institutions.

A dynamic and inclusive process that improves quality of life while regenerating ecological systems.

Princeton’s Strategic Planning Framework defines broad direction for teaching, research and campus life, as well as for the institution’s Campus Plan, which defines how that direction manifests physically on the campus, and the Sustainability Plan, which defines the specific measurable strategies and outcomes to accompany that work. These plans are designed to be synergistic and integrated.

The University's Strategic Planning Framework encompasses an explicit interdisciplinary commitment to the natural environment, which is inherently at the heart of sustainability, that is reflected in strategic plan sections such as “Opportunities for Academic Leadership” “World Affairs and Cultures” and “Environmental Studies” where the plan references the following: “Issues related to the environment, including climate change and other global-scale phenomena, are among the most urgent problems now facing the world.” To meet these challenges, it calls for a “bold and interdisciplinary initiative centered on the environmental sciences.”

Additionally, with service being a key tenet of Princeton’s approach, the plan was informed by, and is an extension to, the work of a service and civic engagement task force that placed sustainability and the environment at the very center of service, as summarized in their final report: (https://strategicplan.princeton.edu/sites/strategicplan/files/sace_serviceandcivicengagementfinal-report.pdf) “Service at its most capacious is a response to the needs named by harms such as injustice, inequality, and unsustainability … [Put] most ambitiously, service and civic engagement are activities that aim to heal the world: encompassing the very broad and manifold goals—from poverty to health to education to environment to international relations, to name only a few—that define the service-relevant community in the broadest sense.”
The work of this and other task forces ultimately informed the 2016 Strategic Planning Framework (https://strategicplan.princeton.edu/framework) which guides the University’s ongoing efforts to enhance Princeton’s core commitments to excellence in teaching and research and to such bedrock principles as affordability, diversity, inclusivity, and service.

As highlighted above, the University’s Strategic Planning Framework also serves as a guide for campus planning, in which sustainability is woven throughout. More specifically, the 2016 Campus Plan was formed around five principles, based on the University’s values and priorities, to guide the evolution of the campus, including the principle to “Create a climate that encourages thoughtful and creative approaches to sustainability.” This principle is reflected in the Plan’s sustainability framework, which identifies priorities, proposes performance targets, and suggests planning and design strategies that can be incorporated into the campus’s physical development to advance Princeton’s sustainability objectives.

Furthermore, both the Strategic Planning Framework and the Campus Plan deeply informed the University’s 2019 Sustainability Action Plan, which sets bold targets to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and outlines innovative strategies to engage all faculty, staff and students in creating a sustainable campus and future.

Link to Campus Plan: https://campusplan.princeton.edu/