New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week that Barnard has successfully reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent over the past five years. The news came as part of the city’s Carbon Challenge Progress Report detailing efforts to reduce New York’s environmental footprint.
Since 2007, Barnard has been part of the Mayor’s Carbon Challenge, an initiative that invites institutions to match the city’s goal of reducing emissions by 30 percent over 10 years. The College is one of 17 participating universities and 11 hospital systems that collectively represent 120 million square feet of space and 3.5 percent of the citywide emissions. Of these institutions, Barnard is one of only four to reach the reduction goal within the first half of the program's 10-year timeline. Read more about Barnard's success with this program.
“We believe that all goals are just a beginning and reaching our target goal five years ahead of schedule is an exciting moment for Barnard,” said Gail Beltrone, Barnard’s Vice President for Campus Services. “Participating in the Mayor’s challenge has been a good way to improve energy efficiency on campus, and also to engage with our own community to better understand and reduce the impact we have on the environment.”
Barnard, together with The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York University, Rockefeller University and New York Hospital Queens, have reduced their emissions by an average of 33.3 percent and cut energy consumption by 22 percent. In the last year alone, these institutions reduced their emissions by 86,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of removing more than 18,000 passenger vehicles from our city’s roads – and saved $19 million in lower energy costs.
