University of Virginia
IN-24: Innovation A

The University of Virginia (UVA) is committed to reducing its Nitrogen Footprint across its Grounds. In 2013, UVA’s Board of Visitors passed a resolution to reduce University-wide GHG emissions 25 percent below 2010 levels by 2025. The extensive and detrimental effects of reactive nitrogen indicate the importance of managing nitrogen efficiently to reduce its loss to and impact on the environment. A first step in managing nitrogen at UVA is assessing the current contribution from the University. This was done with the N Footprint Tool (NFT), developed at UVA in 2009 by Allison Leach as part of her undergraduate thesis and then further refined with help from Andrew Greene, Office of the Architect, and the Sustainability Office. It provided the basis for the BOV commitment in September 2013 for a 25% reduction in UVA’s N footprint. The NFT was the first institution-level nitrogen footprint model ever constructed. The use of this tool has allowed the University to assess and reduce its nitrogen footprint. In addition, it served as the starting point for other institutions who wish to decrease their impact on the environment. More specifically, it led to the development of the NFT Network, a 20+ collection of institutions of higher education that are determining their own N footprints. In November 2017, through a collaboration with UVA's Nitrogen researchers and the University of New Hampshire (UNH), a new integrated campus carbon and nitrogen footprint tool was launched. Called SIMAP (Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform), this tool brings together the NFT and the Campus Carbon Calculator, which is a campus carbon footprint tool used by thousands of campuses and based at UNH. This is an important step towards understanding and improving institutional sustainability because tracking the two footprints together provides a broader picture of a campus’ environmental impacts. SIMAP also includes the carbon and nitrogen footprint of food production, which is a new addition for the carbon footprint tool. The overlap between C and N footprints in the energy sector also provides further support for energy conservation strategies.