Explore Operations
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Office of Facilities
Learn about the services and projects managed by the Office of Facilities.
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Sustainable Building and Design
By building green, Yale provides healthier environments in which to work and learn.
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Office of Sustainability
Yale strives to be a leader in campus sustainability. University leaders, departments, and individuals all play a role.
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Geothermal Utilities
The arrival of the geothermal drilling rigs on campus marked another major step forward in meeting Yale’s ambitious sustainability and climate action goals.
Leadership Programs
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Emerging Climate Leaders Fellowship
Fellows share a common passion to become future leaders in the clean energy and climate change space.
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Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (ELTI)
Training and supporting people from all sectors and backgrounds to restore and conserve tropical forest landscapes.
Reducing Our Footprint
In 2020, Yale achieved a 43% reduction in emissions from 2005 levels, meeting the institution’s original goal. Now, Yale plans to achieve zero actual carbon emissions by 2050, with an interim goal to realize net-zero carbon emissions by 2035.
These goals are achieved through strategies ranging from responsible energy use, verified carbon offsets, and the use of clean, renewable energy.
The Living Village
In this time of climate crisis, Yale Divinity School is building a regenerative student residential complex. Giving back to the environment more than it takes, the Living Village dares to answer one of the most profound theological challenges of our time and sets new standards for sustainability. The Divinity School’s Living Village will be the largest living-building residential complex on a university campus. Designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, the most aggressive standard for sustainable buildings today, it serves as a key component of Yale’s Planetary Solutions initiative.
“The Living Village is about giving back—but it’s also about looking forward. It’s a place designed not just for the people here today, but for future generations who will live, learn, and lead from this campus. Students won’t just live in a high-performing building—they’ll experience sustainability in a way that becomes part of their daily lives. That kind of exposure shapes how they think, act, and advocate long after they leave Yale.”
Gretchen Neeley, AIA, Bruner/Cott Architects
Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future
Scientists from around the globe gathered in Stockholm in 2025 for a special Nobel symposium chaired by Yale School of the Environment Professor Paul Anastas. The scientists issued a declaration on “Chemistry for the Future” urging scientists, industry, educators, students, and policymakers to collaborate to ensure that products of science are safe and sustainable by design.
Urban Resources Initiative
Urban Resources Initiative is a university not-for-profit partnership actively engaged in community forestry activities throughout New Haven. URI centers community participation in urban ecosystem management and policy design. Their approach emphasizes social revitalization alongside environmental restoration.
Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture
In partnership with YPS, the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture was launched in 2021 to develop nature-based solutions to climate change. In addition to the major research initiatives that the center has undertaken, in 2023, Yale also hired five new faculty members to expand expertise in natural carbon capture in the planet’s oceans, coastal ecosystems, tropical forests, and soils.
Something missing?
We’re working to provide as comprehensive resources as possible on our site. Please let us know at planetarysolutions@yale.edu if you’d like to add or update a resource.