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Harvard Office for Sustainability

Accelerating Action for a sustainable future

Our Goals

Fossil Fuel-Free by 2050, Fossil Fuel-Neutral by 2026

Learn more about Harvard’s Fossil Fuel-Free by 2050 Goal (Goal Zero).

Harvard’s Fossil Fuel Goals

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The Harvard Healthier Building Academy

The University is taking steps to eliminate harmful chemicals on campus

We are enhancing the health, productivity, and quality of life of our students, faculty, and staff by making smart, informed decisions about the design and maintenance of our built environment.

Explore the HHBA

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Facts and Figures

How we’re modeling sustainability

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3MW

Harvard has installed 3 megawatts of solar panel capacity on campus, the equivalent of 600 home installations, as well as 0.5 MW of installed storage.
Yellow illustration that looks like an outline of a power plant with a leaf coming out the top.

30%

Between 2006 and 2016, Harvard reduced greenhouse gas emissions 30% from 2006 levels, despite a 14% increase in the size of its campus during that time.
Icon of blue and white water droplets.

218M gallons

As of 2021, Harvard's water use was down 35%—or 218 million gallons, equivalent to filling Harvard's Blodgett Pool 291 times.
Graphic illustration of a green building and leaf

148

As of 2023, Harvard has 148 LEED-certified buildings on campus.
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16%

The shift toward plant-based foods as part of the Cool Food Pledge reduced greenhouse gas emissions per plate at Harvard by 16% between 2019 and 2021.
Icon of a person on a bike

436,279 miles

In 2022, more than 1,500 students and staff utilized the Harvard discounted membership of Bluebikes bikeshare, taking over 100,000 trips totaling 436,279 miles.

Annual Sustainability Report

We are using data to uncover new insights and drive continual improvements in how we operate our campus.

View the 2022-2023 ReportOpens new window

Screenshot of the Tableau dashboard with different colorful graphics representing data for the Office for Sustainability.

Sustainability at Harvard

Connect with OFS

Whether you are a student, staff member, alum, or simply interested in learning more about sustainability at Harvard, there are many opportunities to get involved and take action.

Connect with the Office for Sustainability

Students pose for a photo near the river holding trash removal tools during the 2022 Charles River Clean-Up event.

Community Engagement

Upcoming Events

March

29

Friday
All-day

Conference

Climate Leadership Conference 2024

Climate
leadership
Students

The Climate Leadership Conference 2024, presented by the students at Harvard University, unites leaders, scholars, and innovators worldwide to address climate challenges. Through discussions and initiatives, it aims to drive solutions and inspire commitment to environmental stewardship. Join us for impactful conversations and contribute to building a resilient, sustainable future at this influential conference.

April

03

Wednesday
6:00 pm-8:00 pm GMT+0000

The Environment Forum with Hiʻilei Hobart | What Returns, What Remains: A Story about Hawaiian Landscape and Dis/Possession

In February 2020, a group of Kanaka ‘Ōiwi cultural practitioners arrived in Cambridge, England, to repatriate ancestral remains stolen from Hawaiʻi in the late nineteenth century. This article explores the possession, return, and interpretation of these remains, specifically 14 iwi poʻo (human skulls) originating from the Pali, an important historic battle site in the Koʻolau mountain range of Oʻahu. In telling the story of their possession and dispossession, I draw upon theories of haunting from Indigenous studies and Black studies in order to challenge the way that settler colonial structures work to limit and potentially foreclose Hawaiian relationships to spiritual presence and placemaking. Drawing upon the Native Hawaiian concept of hoʻopahulu, which encompasses both spectrality and the exhaustion of land from over-farming in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), this article highlights connections between land, spirit, and haunting that provide a more comprehensive framework for understanding spectral placemaking beyond colonial geographies. In doing so, I argue against possessive logics, showing how contemporary Hawaiian cultural geogrpahies fundamentally refuse, upend, and replant relations that exceed the American state.

This event is co-sponsored by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability

For full details, visit: https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/event/environment-forum-hi%E2%80%99ilei-hobart-what-returns-what-remains-story-about-hawaiian

April

04

Thursday
5:00 pm-7:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to the Public

Screening of ‘The Hollow Tree’ with Director Kira Akerman

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Join us for the Boston premiere of “Hollow Tree,” hosted by the Harvard Hutchins Center’s History Design Studio and co-sponsored by HGSE. The 73-minute award winning documentary follows three young women as they travel to different sites along the Mississippi River and imagine Louisiana’s past — its history of slavery, Indigenous dispossession, and colonization — and, by extension, Louisiana’s future. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Director Kira Akerman, Producer Monique Walton and the documentary film’s three protagonists, Mekenzie Fanguy, Annabelle Pavy, and Tanielma DaCosta.

April

09

Tuesday
11:00 am-2:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to the Public

Freecycle | April 2024

freecycle
Harvard Waste and Recycling
recycle
Waste
April

09

Tuesday
12:00 pm-1:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to the Public

HGSE Green Team Meeting

green team
Harvard Graduate School of Education
HGSE

All HGSE students, faculty, and staff interested in making our school healthier and more sustainable are encouraged to join the HGSE Green Team!