Core Commitments

Institutional Sustainability

USF is dedicated to sustainability both on campus and around the world. USF recognizes the importance of meeting the needs of our metropolitan location while minimizing our environmental impact. Therefore, USF educates students, staff, and the community in environmental stewardship and sustainability. This stewardship includes building green facilities, improving our energy efficiency, water conservation, green cleaning, planting
native species, recycling, and funding renewable energy projects.

At USF, we make it a responsibility to become a greener university every day by generating knowledge, developing values, changing behaviors, and initiating practices that contribute to a sustainable environment. USF continually works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency through initiatives such as the Student Green Energy Fund, the Clean Energy Research Center, zero-emission electric buses, and LEED-certified buildings.

USF’s work toward achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was recognized in the Times Higher Education’s 2021 Impact Rankings, placing the university third nationally and 30th internationally. The World University’s Impact Rankings quantifiably measured the efforts of 1,115 universities from 94 countries and regions to achieve any of the UN’s 17 SDGs, which are initiatives that act as a blueprint to create a “better and more sustainable future for all.” USF’s ranking in the top 20 schools nationally for all 17 of the categories was bolstered notably by its efforts to eliminate poverty in Goal One (placing USF
No. 1 in the nation and No. 2 in the world for this category), Goal Nine focused on “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure,” seeking to create sustainable inventions and buildings all over the world (No. 2 nationally and 28th internationally), and Goal 14, “Life Below Water,” which advocates for the conservation of the world’s oceans and the development of marine resources (with USF ranking second nationally and 10th internationally). We will continue to build on this foundation of success and establish a culture of sustainability across all campuses of USF.