WPI Sustainability | STEM-Focused | Sustainability Solutions

WPI is creating an ecosystem of sustainability that extends from our home in Worcester and reaches across the globe. From energy conservation efforts and infrastructure improvements to research that helps transform food waste into fuel to a student-led project to improve farm irrigation in Ghana, the university is committed to using its strengths as a premier STEM-focused institution and pioneer in project-based learning to take a leading role in building a more sustainable, just, and equitable future.

To do so, we are also using our own campus as both a testbed for new technologies and approaches to sustainability as well as a living and learning laboratory that engages students, faculty, researchers, and staff to generate new and innovative solutions to the challenges of our changing planet.

WPI's Sustainability Plan (2020-2025)

Developed with the support and input of faculty, staff, administration, and students, WPI's five-year Sustainability Plan turns vision into action by using our strengths to lead initiatives on campus, in the community, and across the world to protect the environment, ensure economic security, and work for social justice for all people.

Read the Plan (PDF) More from the Office of Sustainability

How We Do It

Campus Operations & Facilities

From power plant improvements to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to green alternatives for getting to, from, and around campus, WPI is committed to reducing our carbon footprint and achieving carbon neutrality.

Global Projects

Through our innovative project-based education––and at more than 50 project centers around the world––our students will advance all aspects of sustainability in a way that will have true meaningful, positive impact on communities beyond the WPI campus.

Cutting-Edge Research

Through critical conversations and collaborations across traditional discipline boundaries, WPI researchers are furthering sustainability science, creativity, and scholarship and developing practical solutions to pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges.

Academic Programs

With specialized undergraduate and graduate degrees and more than 150 sustainability-related courses across nearly every department, sustainability principles are infused throughout the curriculum.

Campus Engagement

The entire WPI community—students, faculty, and staff—is encouraged to engage in sustainability-related education, awareness, action, and service in order to achieve positive, long-lasting change and foster a true culture of sustainability.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

WPI is committed to contributing to the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and carrying forward a globally sustainable future through our academic programs, project work, faculty research, and global partnerships.

Through research, projects, and education, WPI is exploring opportunities to positively impact our climate, our food, our water, our energy, and how we can adapt to—and continue to thrive in—this challenging world of ours.

Winston “Wole” Soboyejo, interim president

Campus Initiatives

New Partnership Accelerates WPI’s Efforts to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint

WPI has formed a 40-year partnership with Chicago-based investment management firm Harrison Street that will provide $45 million for the university’s strategic initiatives and accelerate work to reduce WPI’s carbon footprint by expanding energy-conservation measures, improving WPI’s power plant, and developing sustainable energy technologies for the WPI campus. The partnership also will lead to new research opportunities for students and faculty.

More about the partnership

Sustainability Research

Sustainability of the Built Environment

Researchers from civil, environmental, and architectural engineering, along with colleagues from The Global School, are working on sustainable construction materials and building designs, computational models, and other advances that could not only reduce emissions related to construction and operation of the built environment, but help communities plan for and adapt to disasters and economic impacts intensified by a changing climate.

Read the full story in the WPI Journal

Global Partnerships

Co-Creating a Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network

A team of researchers from The Global School has been awarded funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to co-create a Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network (CCAN) to address and adapt to climate change—including extreme weather events—in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Graduate and undergraduate students will be integral to advancing CCAN’s research, including students completing project work at the Puerto Rico Project Center.

Faculty Experts

WPI faculty expertise in sustainability is comprehensive, covering everything from climate change and renewable energy to sustainable business practices and environmental policy. In true WPI fashion, our faculty often pool their knowledge and their passions, collaborating with colleagues across academic departments and programs with a shared purpose: creating a world where ecosystems and societies are able to thrive.

Find an expert

Eugena Choi '24

BS, Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Environmental Engineering

When it comes to her path in life, both academically and personally, Eugena Choi '24 is a product of her environment—literally. Read more about her WPI experience. [...]

Paige Agostini '25

BS in Chemical Engineering with Environmental concentration

Paige’s passion for sustainability and making a difference in the community gives her a sense of place at WPI. [...]

Gabriel Espinosa ‘24

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Gabriel works to pursue his passion for sustainability and engineering through WPI’s clubs and hands-on learning experiences. [...]

Shannon Henderson '23

BS, Environmental Engineering, Creative Writing minor

Shannon dedicates herself to sustainability work both inside and outside the classroom. [...]

Megan DeSanty ’24

BS Robotics Engineering, minor in Computer Science

Community service projects and staying active are important parts of Megan’s life, both on and off campus. [...]

Be Part of the Solution

Our sustainability initiatives are driven by the interest, passion, and commitment of our students, staff, faculty, alumni, and like-minded partners. Whether you're an organization interested in sponsoring a sustainability-focused student project or a student looking to create a new group on campus, learn how you can work with WPI and contribute to a sustainable, just, and equitable future on campus and beyond.

Email Us

Sustainability