About

At UMass Amherst there is an incredible amount of opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to learn about sustainability and to practice sustainable living in a collaborative environment. The university recognizes its responsibility to be a leader in sustainable development and education for the community, state, and nation.

Imparting knowledge of sustainability is vital to achieving our campus wide mission of producing citizens who serve as leaders in their fields working to create a just, healthy, and sustainable world.

Our Recent History

2023

  • UMass Amherst is rated a STARS Gold University for the sixth consecutive time by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for the 2023 v2.2 report with a score of 75.29.

2022

  • UMass Amherst signs onto the Okanagan Charter, an international network of colleges and universities dedicated to embedding health into all aspects of campus culture and to lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.
  • UMass Amherst launches UMass Carbon Zero on Earth Day, 2022. The campaign sets an ambitious goal of powering the campus with 100% renewable energy, a large-scale undertaking that will position UMass Amherst to be a leader of carbon mitigation efforts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts while educating the next generation of leaders in sustainability.
  • UMass Amherst recognized as a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists receiving a Bronze level certification.

2021

2020

  • UMass Amherst is rated a STARS Gold University for the fifth consecutive time by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The 2020 v2.2 report score is a 76.93 up from a 75.77 in 2018 and placing UMass Amherst #7 in the U.S. among peer institutions (public doctorate granting institutions with 20,000+ FTE enrollment (as of May 29, 2020).
  • The John W. Olver Design Building wins The American Institute of Architecture’s (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) highest honor, the COTE Top Ten Award.
  • The UMass Amherst 1.3 MW battery storage system receives the Customer Project Award from Smart Energy Decisions in their "Higher Education Energy Storage and Microgrids” category of their third annual Innovation Awards competition.

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

  • UMass Amherst ranked Among "Top 50 Green Colleges" in the Princeton Review
  • UMass Amherst named 1 of 17 "amazing green college campuses" by Mother Nature Network.
  • UMass Amherst is Rated STARS Gold University by AASHE for version 2.0. 
  • UMass Amherst alumni create the Sustainable Alumni Affinity Group.
  • UMass Foundation announces that it will divest from direct investments in coal companies

2014

  • UMass Amherst is the recipient of the 2014 Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Leading by Example Award.
  • UMass Amherst Dining Services selected as a gold recipient for procurement practices in the 2014 Sustainability Awards given by the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS).
  • UMass Amherst makes the 2014 Princeton Review Green Honor Roll (1 of 22 schools)
  • Rated STARS Gold University by AASHE for version 1.2.
  • UMass Amherst named the state champion in the 2014 Northeast Business Leaders for Energy Efficiency Recognition Program by the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP).
  • UMass Amherst wins the prestigious 2014 Second Nature Climate Leadership Award in the "Doctorate Granting Institution" category.

2013

  • UMass Amherst becomes the largest food-service provider in the nation to sign on to the Real Food Campus Commitment, which requires the universities’ food budgets to move away from industrial farms and junk food and towards local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane food sources by 2020.
  • UMass Libraries Sustainability Fund wins Gale Cengage Learning Financial Leadership Development Award presented by the American Library Association.
  • UMass Amherst wins the MassRecycle University Recycling Award and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Food Recovery Challenge "Colleges and Universities" and "Innovation" Awards.

2012

  • The Franklin Permaculture garden, a thesis projected led by student Ryan Harb (2008 – B.B.A. Business Management & 2010 – MS Green Building, Permaculture, Sustainability) wins the White House Campus Champions of Change Challenge and is honored at the White House.

2011

  • UMass Amherst is rated a STARS Gold University by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). 

2010

  • UMass Amherst is the recipient of the 2010 Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Leading by Example Award.

  • The Environmental Performance Advisory Committee (EPAC) compiles and publishes the UMass Amherst Climate Action Plan, which identifies strategies that will help the campus reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

2009

  • Student Josh Stoffel (2011 – M.Ed.) develops and launches the Eco-Rep Program, a peer-to-peer education program designed to promote student facilitated learning focused on sustainable issues.

2007

  • UMass System President Jack M. Wilson signs the five UMass campuses onto the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). 
  • To fulfill the requirements outlined in the ACUPCC, UMass Amherst Chancellor Thomas Cole forms the Environmental Performance Advisory Committee (EPAC), which writes the University’s first Climate Action Plan.