News Story

The University of Michigan advanced measurable progress toward its campus operations and carbon neutrality goals over the past year, according to a new Campus Sustainability and Carbon Neutrality Update, released by the Office of the Associate Vice President for Campus Sustainability.

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• Campus Sustainability and Carbon Neutrality Update
• Planet Blue
• Office of Campus Sustainability

The annual update highlights progress across renewable energy, campus energy systems, building efficiency, transportation, waste reduction, and healthy environments, including foundational work to address indirect (Scope 3) emissions, while also reflecting the university’s continued growth in facilities, research and academic activity.

“We are making steady, tangible progress across our campuses while modernizing the systems that support our academic and research mission**,**” said Shana S. Weber, associate vice president for campus sustainability. “These investments fundamentally strengthen our energy resilience, reduce polluting emissions, and advance our campus as a globally-relevant and trusted demonstration site for action and problem-solving.”

Expanding renewable energy; modernizing systems

A signature milestone this year was the launch of Maize Rays, the university’s solar initiative designed to expand renewable electricity both on campus and across Michigan in support of the university’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions from purchased electricity (Scope 2) by 2027.

U-M is pursuing approximately 25 megawatts of on-campus solar capacity across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses, including Michigan Medicine and Athletics. The first two solar arrays on North Campus are now commissioned and generating renewable electricity. Maize Rays also pairs campus installations with Michigan-based off-campus renewable energy and includes a community benefit supporting local solar projects on buildings that house community-serving organizations.

In parallel, the university continued advancing heat pump and geoexchange heating and cooling systems, an all-electric and highly efficient technology that leverages stable underground temperatures to reduce fossil fuel use. In 2025, crews drilled a 1,200-foot closed-loop test bore on Central Campus to assess the potential of deeper geoexchange systems.

Additional geoexchange systems are completed or underway at the Leinweber Computer Science and Information Building, Wolverine Village (Central Campus Residential Development), and the Edward and Rosalie Ginsberg Building, and all new building and major renovation projects are designed to be compatible with renewable-energy-driven heating and cooling systems.

Improving efficiency across campus buildings

U-M invested $1.1 million through its central revolving energy fund to support energy-efficiency upgrades across campus in FY ’25. Projects focused primarily on lighting and HVAC improvements, building on earlier LED upgrades spanning more than 13 million square feet of building space.

“These projects make good business sense and reduce energy use today while positioning the university for deeper efficiencies over time,” Weber said.

Advancing low-carbon transportation

The university expanded its low-carbon transportation portfolio by adding four additional battery-electric buses, bringing the total in service to 12 electric vehicles, which have collectively logged more than 52,000 miles and avoided 159,000 pounds of CO₂-equivalent emissions compared to conventional buses.

Campuswide electric vehicle infrastructure also continued to grow, with 230 EV charging stations now available and 56 university-owned electric vehicles in service. U-M also continued exploratory planning for a potential Automated Transit System, which is being considered alongside Campus Plan 2050 goals to expand multimodal transportation, including walking and biking connections across campus.

Reducing waste and strengthening campus environments

Waste reduction efforts expanded in partnership with research, event and student life teams. The Lab Swap Shop, launched with LSA, supported reuse of laboratory equipment and contributed to more than 17,500 pounds of lab diverted from landfills in 2025.

The Office of Campus Sustainability Zero Waste Program supported more than 1,000 events across campus in FY ’25, including major gatherings, and a new partnership with the Campus Farm enabled compostable waste from Michigan Stadium to be processed locally.

Campuswide compost infrastructure grew to 1,300 bins, while student move-out efforts diverted more than 12 tons of reusable materials. During the year, U-M also refreshed its campuswide waste-reduction goals, adopting updated targets and metrics to better reflect the full scope of waste prevention, reuse, composting and diversion efforts underway across campus.

The university also advanced work to strengthen campus ecosystems. U-M maintained its designation as a Bee Campus USA, installed new native landscapes including a 1,500-square-foot urban prairie near the Life Sciences Institute and adopted refreshed Resilient Grounds goals to guide long-term approaches to land management, biodiversity, stormwater and chemical reduction.

Advancing Scope 3 emissions work

The update also highlights continued foundational work to address Scope 3 emissions, which include indirect impacts associated with activities such as purchased goods and services, business travel, commuting, and construction materials.

During FY ’25, the Office of Campus Sustainability worked with external experts and campus partners to strengthen data quality, develop consistent tracking approaches, and synthesize feedback from  more than 350 community members. In collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Systems in the School for Environment and Sustainability, the university advanced targeted analysis in four priority areas: business travel, food, capital goods (construction), and purchased goods and services.

As part of this work, U-M renewed a three-year partnership with Delta Airlines to advance the use of sustainable aviation fuel, a certified alternative jet fuel that can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel. The partnership supports efforts to address emissions associated with university-related air travel and complements broader Scope 3 analysis underway.

This phased work established a strong analytical foundation for future goal setting. Following recent senior leadership transitions, the university plans to complete Scope 3 goal-setting work in 2026.

Operations as learning opportunities

The update also reflects how major operational investments support U-M’s commitment to life-changing education. In FY ’25, the associate vice president for campus sustainability, the vice provost for sustainability and climate action, and the Office of the Vice President for Research established cross-functional campus as living learning lab working groups to better align campus energy, infrastructure, and resource-management projects with research priorities and educational opportunities.

“These efforts reinforce Michigan’s long-standing commitment to using the campus as a living-learning lab,” Weber said, “where operational systems are envisioned to intentionally support interdisciplinary research, applied learning, and real-world problem solving.”

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, the university will continue implementing on- and off-campus solar through Maize Rays, advancing geoexchange systems and energy-efficiency projects, expanding low-carbon transportation, and completing Scope 3 goal-setting work.

A more comprehensive update will be released this spring through the Sustainability Leadership Council.