Stewardship
Land, Water, Life
Yale’s Efforts
- Inspired by student research and recommendations, Yale has installed multiple urban meadows and rain gardens throughout campus.
- The Yale Landscape Lab at West Campus, and the Yale Experimental Watershed host fieldwork and research projects, and offer opportunities to connect sustainability solutions to the natural and built environment.
- More than 8,000 trees have been planted in the City of New Haven through the Urban Resources Initiative, a not-for-profit-university partnership. Over 130 of the these are on campus, 48 of which recognize Yale employees for long-term service.
- Initiatives in Yale’s Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan aim to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff from campus, improving water quality and public health.
- Yale’s Water Management Plan recognizes water as a critical resource, promotes metering, conservation technologies and conservation research, and prioritizes adaptive management strategies.
What You Can Do
- Help us save water on campus by being conscientious of your use.
- Discover Yale’s many green spaces that help to manage stormwater.
- Join the many students, faculty and staff who participate annually in bird walks on campus and citizen science events to survey and record biodiversity on campus.
Our Objectives and Goals
Urban Growth and Campus Planning
Develop transformative approaches to urban growth and campus planning that address financial, environmental, and social imperatives
Campus Land Use Planning Guidelines
WE COULD DO BETTER
By 2019, update campus land use planning guidelines to ensure enhanced human health, improved biodiversity, and enhanced environmental quality.
Updated guidelines for project planning and implementation are in use. These include High Performance Design Standards, a Sustainable Transportation Framework, and Sustainable Stormwater and Water Management Plans. The sustainability supplement to the Framework for Campus Planning is receiving renewed attention to guide campus planning.
Efficient Campus Growth
WE COULD DO BETTER
By 2020, develop and implement planning strategies to efficiently accommodate increased campus population and programmatic expansion.
Facilities Planning is analyzing innovative workplace scenarios to densify and use campus space more efficiently. The study will inform a new policy for space planning to promote efficient campus growth
Land and Water Management
Develop innovative approaches to land and water management that enhance human health, biodiversity, and environmental vitality
Landscape Management and Use
WE COULD DO BETTER
By 2021, define standards for innovative landscape management to enhance care and use of Yale land inside and outside of New Haven.
A study is underway by to develop landscape standards for private courtyards, public pathways, and street edges. These standards will form the basis for broader sustainable landscaping principles.
Stormwater and Water Management
ON TRACK
By 2020, implement recommendations as proposed in 2016 supplements to campus Stormwater and Water Management Plans in explicit alignment with municipal, regional, and state priorities.
Updates to the campus Water and Stormwater Management Plans were created to align with local priorities. Goals include:
- reduction of potable water consumption by 5% by 2020
- reduction of campus impervious area that contributes runoff to storm and combined sewer systems by 45,000 square feet by 2020
Potable water use has decreased 1.76% since 2013.
Biodiversity Plan
ON TRACK
By 2023, establish campus best practices, standards, benchmarks, and biodiversity goals and strategies to meet and measure performance to create a campus biodiversity plan.
With support from the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, faculty members from the Yale Schools of Architecture and Forestry & Environmental Studies are developing a strategic plan to connect research with grounds maintenance practices. This collaboration will include assessments, innovation, and measuring success.