Johns Hopkins University unveiled a new sustainability plan Friday, featuring pledges for electric buses, renewable energy use and composting.

The university is pledging to purchase all of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, and achieve “net-zero” status by 2040, which means it balances its greenhouse gas emissions with reductions.

The plan, which was about two years in the making, covers the Hopkins Homewood campus in Baltimore, the Peabody Institute in Mount Vernon, the Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel and the university’s Washington, D.C., campus, said Julian Goresko, who leads the university’s Office of Climate and Sustainability.

“The role of Hopkins in a city the size of Baltimore is really profound. We’re obviously the largest private employer, including the health system, in the state, and so the decisions we make are looked at by others and have a big influence on the region,” Goresko said. “We’re very excited about what that can do to really lift up efforts across the board.”

The Hopkins health system contributed to the plan’s creation, and is in talks to create its own sustainability plan, Goresko said.

Johns Hopkins is the latest institution in the state to set a net-zero goal. In 2021, the University of Maryland set a deadline of Earth Day 2025 for reaching net-zero emissions. An update on that plan is expected this fall, according to the university’s website. In 2022, Baltimore City set a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.

Dating back to 2007, Johns Hopkins has reduced its carbon emissions by 57%, despite a 14% increase in its physical footprint, according to a university news release.

That came in part because of a 2019 agreement between Hopkins and Constellation Energy, wherein the university is purchasing 250,000 megawatt-hours of solar power annually for 15 years — enough to meet about two-thirds of its energy needs at the time.

The university has solar arrays on seven campus buildings, which produce enough energy each year to power 200 U.S. households.

Perhaps the first piece of the university’s new pledge that will become visible to Baltimore residents will be the electric buses, five of which are anticipated to hit city streets early next year thanks to a grant from the Maryland Energy Administration, Goresko said. The university is planning to deploy five more electric buses by 2027, and ensure that all of its vehicle purchases are electric by 2030. The university’s 12-bus system serves about 3,000 riders each weekday.

But the largest chunk of the university’s planet-warming emissions — 90% — comes from its buildings, according to the plan.

As a result, the university is pledging to implement new building construction and maintenance policies to cut energy use, Goresko said.

“It’s definitely changing the conversation on prioritizing things like building insulation, heat recovery,” Goresko said. “So really the building materials and the building envelope, trying to keep the building envelope as tight as possible just to minimize the heating and cooling demand.”

Under the plan, all newly constructed buildings, including the university’s new Data Science and AI Institute planned close to Stony Run, and major renovations will have to meet at least LEED Gold standards. That project in particular has garnered concern from community members worried about its proximity to homes and to the stream.

The university also is promising to divert at least 50% of its waste away from landfills and incinerators, using composting and recycling. In dining halls and retail shops, the university is pledging to phase out single-use plastics, including water bottles.

By 2030, the university said it plans to source at least 40% of its dining hall food locally, including 15% from businesses in Baltimore. The university also plans to offer more plant-based food options, reducing the emissions associated with its food purchases.

The university already had begun working on its plan before Maryland passed its own greenhouse gas commitments into law, Goresko said, which require the state to curtail its emissions 60%, based on 2006 levels, by 2031 and become net zero by 2045.

“Maryland passed climate legislation midway through our own plan development, and it’s been extremely influential having the Maryland Climate Solutions Now Act in place, in terms of what that does to motivate institutions like universities and others across the entire state,” Goresko said.

Have a news tip? Contact Christine Condon at chcondon@baltsun.com, 667-256-6883 and @CChristine19 on X.