Climate Action
The University will be carbon neutral by 2030 and fossil fuel free by 2050.
In December 2019, UVA’s Board of Visitors committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and becoming fossil fuel-free by 2050 - key goals in the 2030 Sustainability Plan. Climate adaptation and resilience planning is also closely connected to climate action planning. UVA has been working with the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County on Resilient Together, a joint planning and community engagement process that will result in parallel climate adaptation and resilience plans for Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville. These climate resilience plans are informed by community members within and served by each entity, including staff across our local governments, representatives from the University of Virginia and other regional public institutions, members of local community based organizations, and the public.
UVA has made significant progress toward carbon neutrality and leads peers with similar goals via major strategies such as energy supply and district energy improvements (including renewable energy) and building energy efficiency work. These efforts have delivered utility cost savings, improved resiliency, and ensured operational continuity. Each year, the Office for Sustainability publishes an annual report and greenhouse gas inventory report detailing progress toward these goals in collaboration with partners across UVA. Despite significant growth, UVA has reduced emissions compared to a 2010 baseline by over 44% despite significant growth.
Scope of Carbon Neutrality Goal
- UVA’s goal covers Scope 1 emissions (on-Grounds fuel use in plants, buildings, and vehicles—e.g., natural gas, coal, oil) and Scope 2 emissions (electricity used in buildings, chilled water plants, and fleet).
- Includes UVA Academic and Medical Center-operated properties for which utility data is available from UVA Energy & Utilities, regardless of location (the vast majority of these are on or contiguous to Main Grounds). This includes approximately 570 buildings encompassing over 19 million square feet.
Key Strategies Driving Progress
District Energy:
- Strategic Thermal Energy Study (STES): The 2021 STES, undertaken by UVA Energy & Utilities, is a longer-term analysis focused on eliminating fossil fuels within UVA’s district energy systems, specifically Scope 1 emissions resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels on Grounds associated with the generation, distribution, and use of thermal energy. This STES investigated various new technologies that could be implemented on Grounds as the University pursues its goals of carbon neutrality and the elimination of fossil fuels and guides the University’s work to become fossil fuel free by 2050. This study included identifying potential sites for geothermal bore fields.
- Fontaine Central Energy Plant: This visionary $65 million energy plant, completed in spring 2026, is one of the first zero-combustion, fossil fuel-free district energy plants in North America, utilizing 100 geoexchange wells, thermal storage tanks, and ultra-efficient heat pumps to provide heating and cooling for the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology and future Fontaine development. Read more from UVA Today articles: UVA Builds Next-Generation Heat Plant at Fontaine Research Park and A UVA Engineering Alumna and Summer Intern Dig Into UVA’s Geoexchange Heating Project.
- Geoexchange: In 2022, UVA drilled a series of deep holes around Grounds to understand the potential for geoexchange systems. Five test wells, 600 feet deep and 6 inches in diameter, were drilled at Fontaine Research Park, at Facilities Management, Nameless Field, Carr’s Hill Field and the Park on North Grounds. The tests indicated that the area’s geology is suitable for using the earth as a storage medium for heat and is suitable to play a significant role in a significant part of UVA’s strategy to meet its climate goals. Read the UVA Today article Innovative, Underground Heating Planned for UVA Manning Institute of Biotechnology.
- Low Temperature Hot Water Project: One key decarbonization strategy, but also one of the least visible, is to transition Academic Grounds from steam and high-temperature heating water. This significantly increases the efficiency of the system (since steam energy is more easily lost through distribution piping) while also allowing for the introduction of entirely new, cleaner methods for delivering heat (see Heat Recovery Chillers below). Read more from Facilities Management: The future of heating and cooling buildings by UVA Facilities Management - UVA Facilities Management stories. Low Temperature Hot Water Project: One key decarbonization strategy, but also one of the least visible, is to transition Academic Grounds from steam and high-temperature heating water. This significantly increases the efficiency of the system (since steam energy is more easily lost through distribution piping) while also allowing for the introduction of entirely new, cleaner methods for delivering heat (see Heat Recovery Chillers below). Read more from Facilities Management: The future of heating and cooling buildings by UVA Facilities Management
- Heat Recovery: UVA’s transition to a “low temperature" hot water heating system has enabled an entirely new means of ultra-efficient heating and cooling known as heat recovery. Specialty equipment known as heat recovery chillers can produce heating and cooling at the same time, essentially by taking heat from hot spaces and trading it with the “cold” from cooler spaces. This significantly reduces energy and water use and is a unique strategy that can be leveraged on a campus with such a diverse building stock. In pursuit of this strategy, UVA boasts one of the only heat recovery chillers in the world that can produce 170F hot water and 42F cold water at the same time.
- Approved and in design: Main Heat Plant Fuel Conversion: Approved by the UVA Board of Visitors in June 2025, this $38 million project will eliminate the use of coal and will optimize existing plant assets for the new fuel mix (gas, electricity, and oil). The outcome of this work will eliminate the continuity of operation risk associated with coal, reduce carbon and sulfur emissions, and decrease operating and fuel costs. Read more from the Board of Visitors meeting notes: Main Heat Plant Fuel Conversion (see page 9).
- Plant Optimization and Thermal Storage: The Energy & Utilities team continually assesses opportunities to optimize heating and cooling systems. Innovative control systems have been introduced to optimize the chilled water production at several plants simultaneously, streamlining plant operations and reducing the power and water required to make chilled water. Thermal energy storage tanks introduce additional levers to optimize the system as a whole by storing hot and cold water for use during peak times - or to serve as back-up in case of an emergency.
- Renewable Energy: UVA seeks to procure clean, renewable energy sources to provide the power necessary to run the University. As of 2025, approximately 15% of UVA’s electricity comes from solar energy sources, including two utility-scale solar projects and six on-site rooftop installations.
- Energy Efficient Buildings: Whole-building energy efficiency upgrades have been undertaken in over 75 of UVA’s most energy-intensive buildings, via UVA’s award-winning, internal retro-commissioning program - the Building Efficiency Program (including Sustainable Labs and Sustainable Clinics), which has resulted in millions of dollars in avoided costs. UVA’s Green Building Standards include process and prescriptive requirements for all new construction and major renovations, including energy use intensity reduction requirements by building type. Since 2010, UVA has reduced energy consumption in its buildings by over 27% (energy use per square foot). Read more from our blog entitled: UVA Earns National Recognition for Achieving Ten-Year Energy Savings Goal.
- Low-Emissions Fleet: UVA Parking & Transportation (P&T) has been planning for transit fleet electrification for several years. P&T has deployed five electric Karsan e-JEST electric minibuses, and has four full-size electric Gillig transit buses. Two additional e-JESTs and two additional full-size electric transit buses are expected to be delivered in fall 2026 and summer 2027. UVA Facilities Management’s award-winning fleet currently includes 45 alternatively fueled vehicles. Read more on the UVA Sustainability Transportation page.
Current and planned strategies mitigate the emissions impact of growth but will need to be expanded as UVA is expected to add approximately 3 million square feet by 2030. In-progress and planned projects, including expanding building energy efficiency programs to additional research labs and Medical Center buildings, are expected to move UVA closer towards its carbon neutrality goal. Upcoming investments will be focused on UVA’s goal to be fossil fuel-free by 2050, including expanding carbon-free district energy (modeled on the Fontaine Central Utility Plant), eliminating steam or converting to electric/carbon-free sources as technology improves, and enhancing building energy efficiency and electrification.
Although UVA will significantly reduce emissions by 2030, some emissions will remain, so the university is in the process of assessing options. UVA’s carbon offsets task force developed a carbon offsets framework for the University, endorsed by UVA leadership in October 2023, which restricts the use of most carbon offsets due to concerts about their long-term effectiveness, high cost, and limited availability.
