With more than 20,000 mission-driven crew members working around the world, we are committed to reducing our global carbon footprint and managing climate-related risks to our operations.
Vanguard’s corporate sustainability strategy seeks to reduce our firm’s own climate impact, invest in sustainable solutions, and engage our crew.
In early 2020, we established a pair of goals to curb emissions and reduce the global carbon footprint of our operations.
We have adopted four additional reduction targets for 2025, based on 2019 baseline levels:
Reduce carbon emissions by 20%
Measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) per full-time equivalent (FTE)
Reduce electricity usage by 5%
Measured in kilowatt-hours per square foot of space under operational control
Reduce water usage by 20%
Measured in gallons per square foot of space under operational control
Divert 80% of waste from landfills
We take a thorough, pragmatic approach to managing our corporate resources.
We're reducing emissions by improving operational efficiencies, investing in new sustainable technology and high-efficiency equipment, and improving building energy standards.
In 2022, we continued to upgrade exterior lighting, adding 749 more LED lamps that are expected to save 725 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity annually on top of the 726 MWh of savings from upgrades the prior year (2021). Additionally, we are a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, which seeks to increase voluntary use of electricity produced from renewable energy resources.
We incorporate sustainable design and construction principles into the U.S. buildings we own and the office space we lease worldwide.
Green building criteria and certifications are integral to our corporate building design standards. As of December 31, 2022, 18 buildings—or nearly 30% of the buildings across our global locations—were either LEED- or BREEAM-certified.1 Of the 18 buildings, eight were new certifications for Vanguard in 2022.
Where possible, our buildings are powered by on-site renewable energy and direct renewable energy from the utility supplier. Where direct renewable energy from the utility supplier is unavailable, our approach includes purchasing renewable energy certificates.
After operational reduction and real estate investments, we offset our remaining footprint with high-impact carbon offset projects that increase economic development.
In 2022, Vanguard purchased over 110,000 MWh of renewable energy, which resulted in a reduction of more than 34,000 tCO2e. Additionally, we supported three carbon-offset projects in 2022 that offset 24,500 tCO2e.
We offer programs to encourage the use of low-carbon transportation, including about 70 free electric vehicle charging ports adjacent to our buildings, shuttles between campuses and to and from public transit, and pretax deductions for public transit costs.
Our electric vehicle chargers are powered by 100% renewable energy, resulting in reduced commuting emissions of 227 tCO2e and saving over 37,000 gallons of gasoline. Additionally, we have begun to add electric vehicles to our maintenance fleet.
Disclosure of Scopes 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
Emissions went up in 2022 as many of our crew returned to offices but remained below 2019 baseline levels.
By 2025, we intend to avoid, reduce, or offset all Scopes 1 and 2 emissions, as well as emissions from a number of Scope 3 categories,2 including purchased goods and services,3 fuel- and energy-related activities, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, and upstream leased assets.4
1 LEED and BREEAM are systems that rate buildings on a range of sustainability and environmental criteria. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council; BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) is administered by BRE Global, a subsidiary of the U.K.-based BRE Group.
2 Scopes 1, 2, and 3 are as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Scope 1 refers to all direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Scope 2 refers to indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat, or steam. Scope 3 refers to other indirect emissions not covered in Scope 2 that occur in a company’s value chain, including both upstream and downstream emissions.
3 Includes only shuttle, security, and other service vehicles.
4 Scope 3 data do not include Vanguard fund investments.