Each year, our NWG Data Team collects, processes, and validates food purchasing data from across the university to calculate UVA's annual nitrogen footprint. These core metrics that are vetted by our team tell us whether UVA is on track to meet its goal of a 30% nitrogen reduction by 2030.
Food is the single largest driver of UVA's nitrogen footprint, accounting for roughly 50–70% of the total. That makes accurate, rigorous data collection essential, not just for measuring UVA’s progress, but for identifying where reductions are possible. The Data Team receives over 30,000 lines of food purchasing data annually from UVA Dine, UVA Health System, and UVA Darden, alongside energy and wastewater data from Facilities Management and the Office for Sustainability. From there, our student employees process, categorize, and validate the data before entering it into SIMAP, the platform used to generate UVA's nitrogen footprint.
Since 2014, the NWG has tracked UVA's footprint every year, providing the data that informs university leadership, sustainability planning, and reduction efforts across Grounds. As UVA continues to expand, this tracking work becomes increasingly important and complex.