Virginia Tech's Commitment to Sustainability

Guided by Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech is committed to leading climate action in our community, the commonwealth, and the world.

The Climate Action Commitment is to achieve carbon neutrality by changing the university’s physical infrastructure, collective and individual behaviors, and educational mission; to engage everyone in creating a culture of sustainability; and to achieve these goals through just and equitable means. 

Virginia Tech’s Climate Action Commitment was shared in late 2020 and approved by the Board of Visitors in March 2021. The current plan is publicly available to key stakeholders, like our local and university communities. 

Current Climate Action Commitment Goals

1. Achieve a carbon neutral Virginia Tech campus by 2030. 
2. Achieve 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. 
3. Complete the total conversion of steam plant fuel to natural gas by 2025, plan for full transition to renewable steam plant fuel after 2025 and continue to improve efficiency of campus energy systems. 
4. Reduce building energy consumption to enable carbon neutrality by 2030.
5. Operations of new buildings initiated by 2030 will be carbon neutral.
6. Agricultural, forestry, and land use operations will be carbon neutral by 2030. 
7. Virginia Tech to become a Zero-Waste Campus by 2030. 
8. Establish the Sustainable Procurement Policy and Procedures by 2022. 
9. Reduce single-occupancy-vehicle commuting to campus by 20 percent by 2025 and reduce transportation-related GHG emissions by 40 percent by 2030. 
10. Integrate the Climate Action Commitment into Virginia Tech’s educational mission through the Climate Action Living Laboratory beginning in 2021.
11. Establish climate justice as a core value of the Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment. 
12. Diminish barriers to sustainable behaviors through institutional change, education, and social marketing. 
13. Implement the Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment at a high level of university administration and governance; by integrating goals for facilities, education, and campus culture; and with stakeholder engagement for evaluation of goals and progress. 
14. Develop innovative budgeting and financing mechanisms to generate funding and staffing to achieve Climate Action Commitment goals. 
15. Develop Pathways after 2030 to eliminate fossil fuels and carbon offsets by 2050.