What does the Nitrogen Footprint Tracking team do?
NWG’s Nitrogen Footprint Tracking team processes and validates UVA’s food purchasing data to calculate UVA’s Nitrogen footprint using SIMAP. Every year, the Nitrogen Footprint Tracking team receives data from UVA Dine, UVA Health System, and UVA Darden on food purchases. Data on energy and wastewater are provided by Facilities Management and UVA’s Office for Sustainability.
What does the calculation process entail?
Our team of NWG student interns is tasked with data processing. Interns calculate weights and categories, then validate calculations by comparing results to prior years and accounting for any changes, like renovations or closures. Once processed, the data is uploaded to SIMAP to generate UVA’s Nitrogen footprint (Figure 1).
This figure displays the nitrogen footprint at UVA since 2010. "BAU 2030" indicates what the footprint would look like if the University continued with normal operations as of 2019, and the "Proposed 2030 NAP" indicates what the nitrogen footprint will look like in 2030 if the scenarios of the Nitrogen Action Plan are implemented, accounting for the growth of the student body.