The timeline below showcases some of the work that University of Michigan (U-M) students, faculty, administrators, and staff members have undertaken, paving the way for the university's most recent carbon neutrality commitments.
2001
Beginning of Sustainability Assessment and Reporting Project at U-M
Sustainability reporting at the University of Michigan began with a 2001-2002 master’s project advised by the late Jonathan Bulkley and Gregory Keoleian (then co-directors of the Center for Sustainable Systems). The project involved input from over thirty units on the Ann Arbor campus and proposed a framework to measure campus sustainability across fifty indicators (twenty-five environmental, twenty social, and five economic).
2003
President Coleman assembles the U-M Environmental Task Force
In 2003, President Mary Sue Coleman assembled the U-M Environmental Task Force, which compiled an Environmental Task Force Advisory Report in April 2004. The report recommended that U-M focus on eight key environmental performance indicators and forty-six specific operational performance metrics to report out annually, including: primary energy consumption, renewable energy contribution, water use, impervious surface area, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste, percent of solid waste recycled, and building utilization.
“This is truly a grass roots effort emanating from a School of Natural Resources and Environment student master’s project on U-M sustainability in 2001...” – Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment (2003)
2005
Provost and Center for Sustainable Systems develop the U-M Environmental Data Repository (EDR)
The 2003 Environmental Task Force Advisory Report called for an environmental assessment and reporting system to aid U-M in evaluating its environmental performance. In 2005, researchers from the Center for Sustainable Systems, with support from the Office of the Provost, developed Excel-based software to automatically gather and input data across 46 operational metrics from Ann Arbor campus units. The software, known as the U-M Environmental Data Repository (EDR), facilitated data collection and analysis for the eight environmental performance indicators recommended by the 2003 Environmental Task Force Advisory Report.
2010
President Coleman launches the integrated assessment of the Ann Arbor campus.
In October 2009, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman elevated the university’s commitment to sustainability in teaching, research, operations, and engagement through the creation of the Sustainability Executive Council. One of the council’s first actions was to task a new Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment (CSIA) with conducting a comprehensive assessment that would lead to new goals and action plans to advance sustainability across the Ann Arbor campus. The U-M Graham Sustainability Institute, established in 2006, and the U-M Office of Campus Sustainability, established in 2009, supported this work.
2011
In September 2011, U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, informed by the 2010 Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment, established the University’s five 2025 sustainability goals.
2015
U-M President Mark Schlissel establishes Greenhouse Gas Reduction Committee
In 2015, U-M President Mark Schlissel established the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Committee, charged with evaluating and making recommendations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, U-M aims to reduce Ann Arbor scope 1 and 2 emissions (direct and purchased-power emissions, respectively) from FY2006 by 25 percent by 2025.
February 2019
U-M President Mark Schlissel announces U-M President's Commission on Carbon Neutrality (PCCN)
In February 2019, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel established the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality (PCCN) to recommend a pathway for the university to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, and in doing so, develop scalable and transferable strategies that other institutions and larger communities can apply to achieve the same goal.
The commission released its final recommendations in March 2021, after reviewing and considering 521 public comments from U-M students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members following the release of the commission’s draft report.
PCCN Areas of Analysis
Numerous internal analysis teams, commission sub-groups, and external consulting firms supported the work of the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality. Each of these researched and assessed potential recommendations on specific topics related to carbon neutrality at U-M.
Upon concluding their analyses, teams submitted reports, linked below, containing potential recommendations. The reports served as inputs to the commission process and informed deliberations, but do not reflect commission-level recommendations, and should neither be interpreted as being recommendations of the PCCN nor carrying its endorsement.
May 2021
U-M commits to carbon neutrality universitywide
Following the submission of the PCCN's final report and recommendations, President Schlissel announced a series of corresponding commitments and initial steps that place carbon neutrality at the center of U-M's mission.
“The University of Michigan will achieve carbon neutrality across all greenhouse gas emissions scopes. This commitment is comprehensive, spanning our $1.62 billion research enterprise, our 40 million square feet in buildings, our three campuses, Athletics, and Michigan Medicine, which annually serves the public with 2.3 million patient visits, 60,000 surgeries and 5,000 births.” – President Mark S. Schlissel
Photo courtesy of Fatimah Bolhassan
GHG Emissions Reduction Goals
- U-M will eliminate Scope 1 emissions by 2040.
- U-M will achieve carbon neutrality for Scope 2 emissions by 2025.
- U-M will establish net-zero goals for Scope 3 emissions categories by 2025.
Leadership Structures, Research and Education, External Collaboration
- U-M will create a new executive-level leadership position reporting to the president, tasked with managing and coordinating carbon neutrality-related efforts university-wide. That position will be filled through a national search in the months ahead.
- U-M will incorporate environmental justice principles into its future decision-making, acknowledging that the climate crisis poses the most harm to frontline communities that are historically and unfairly disadvantaged and disenfranchised.
- U-M will appoint an internal advisory committee, with leadership from units across the university, to help guide implementation toward carbon neutrality. U-M leaders will also engage within and beyond the university to shape the development of a community advisory council to ensure that strategies are inclusive, responsive, and supportive of local communities.
- U-M will develop a dashboard to track its progress toward carbon neutrality and keep the community informed.
- U-M will work with deans and other academic leaders across the university to identify and support opportunities to integrate sustainability and carbon neutrality into core curricula.
- U-M will make significant investments in carbon neutrality research and deployment, building on multidisciplinary initiatives like the Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program, the Global CO2 Initiative and the Institute for Global Change Biology.
- U-M will expand the Planet Blue Ambassador program to cover the Flint and Dearborn campuses and invest in the Student Sustainability Coalition to foster greater student involvement.
- U-M will prioritize meaningful engagement with surrounding communities (Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint, and Detroit) on how to best address equity and justice issues at U-M’s three campuses, around the region, and globally as it transitions to carbon neutrality.
Photo courtesy of Fatimah Bolhassan
Campus Planning
- U-M will initiate a campus master planning process that includes carbon neutrality at its center, in collaboration with faculty experts.
- U-M will make all new building projects compatible with renewable energy-driven heating and cooling systems.
- U-M will develop overall standards for new construction and renovation that address increased energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions.
Scope 1 Emissions Reduction Strategies
- U-M will install geothermal heating and cooling systems in conjunction with some of its new construction projects, beginning with the Bob and Betty Beyster Building addition on North Campus, as a first step in a phased transition of heating and cooling systems.
- U-M will electrify Ann Arbor and Dearborn campus buses as a first step toward decarbonizing U-M’s entire vehicle fleet.
- U-M will launch a revolving fund for energy efficiency projects, beginning with $25 million over five years. Energy savings will be reinvested into the fund, which will accelerate energy conservation projects on all three campuses and Michigan Medicine.
Photo courtesy of the U-M Office of Campus Sustainability
Get Involved!
Stay tuned on the Planet Blue Carbon Neutrality website for upcoming public engagement events.