Created with the intention of increasing sustainability data transparency and availability, the Sustainability Data Hub is a tool containing data visualizations with varying degrees of interactivity. These visualizations may evolve or change over time, and new data visualizations will be created and added to this page. Please note that these data visualizations are only a small subset representing our sustainability progress, and that we report on all of our sustainability goals in our annual Sustainability Progress Report. Click on the upper righthand icon (“Focus mode”) of each visualization in order to interact with the data.
Fair Use
We ask all who use the Data Hub to carefully review the descriptions of the data visualizations, so that we can avoid misinterpretation as much as possible. These visualizations are intended for informational purposes only. If you have questions about the visualizations, the underlying data sets, or other sustainability data that may not be included here, please reach out to sustainability@yale.edu.
GHG emissions
Yale has been measuring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions since 2005. This visualization shows emissions associated with the University’s two on-campus co-generation power plants and purchased electricity and the university’s fleet. For more information about greenhouse gas emissions at Yale, including our accomplishment of reaching our 2020 goal and our shift to reporting through The Climate Registry, please visit our Greenhouse Gas Emissions page.
Paper Purchasing
This visualization shows copy paper purchasing patterns at Yale, organized by recycled content type. Interact with the visualization by checking the box next to different product types (e.g. “50% Recycled”) to see how our buying habits have changed over time.
While the University makes many purchases, we have been tracking copy paper purchasing for a number of years as a way to track overall reduction as well as a shift away from virgin paper purchasing. For more information about best practices for paper use, visit the Reducing Paper Use page.
Zoom Meetings
This visualizations shows the number of Zoom meetings held each month over the course of fiscal year 2020. A large proportion of the University community functioned remotely from mid-March through June.
Co-benefits
It is important that our sustainability initiatives have broad impact. We assess the goals of the Yale Sustainability Plan 2025 goals to measure “co-benefits”: positive outcomes that directly or indirectly result from their achievement. This helps us to see the intersections between specific goals and how they advance economic prosperity; health & well-being; resiliency; impact beyond campus borders (i.e. local, national, and global impacts); and diversity, equity, and belonging.
This tool shows whether the goal has a major, moderate, or neutral co-benefit impact. Check the box next to different levels of impact within each co-benefit category to learn more.
Note: Some goals have been achieved since this exercise was done in 2020.