East Hill Notes: Cornell University sustainability initiatives
Second in a two-part series on Cornell University sustainability initiatives, and the proposed North Campus Residential Expansion project.
Earlier this month, Cornell University was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its efforts to advance access, education, and public interest and engagement in renewable energy resources, especially in low-income communities.
The Leadership in Green Power Education Award recognizes more than 30 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County educational programs advancing renewable energy options, including solar, wood heating, energy efficiency upgrades, and heat pumps.
Highlights include:
*Community engagement support for SolarTompkins and HeartSmartTompkins to engage residents in all 10 major municipalities in the county with solar and heat-pump campaigns;
*Support for 25 municipal partners through NYSERDA’S Clean Energy Communities Programing ensuring facilities were made eligible for state/federal green energy funding;
*Opening five university solar farms to K-12 tours emphasizing STEM and green energy careers;
*Producing and disseminating a financial and land-use guidebook, “Accelerating Large-Scale Wind and Solar Energy in New York: Principles and Recommendations,” to rural farmers in every New York county through the Cornell Community and Regional Development Institute
Also of note: For the seventh consecutive year, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education gave Cornell a gold rating, recognizing Cornell in its 2018 Sustainable Campus Index, and placing the university first in the U.S. in the category of sustainability planning and governance..
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Related, in an era when the realities of climate change become more apparent, a current Cornell project – the North Campus Residential Expansion (NCRE) – has included constructive community-campus dialogue about utilities and sustainability.
Key facts tied to this conversation:
* The expansion project will not require new gas infrastructure for building heat, hot water, power, or cooling. NCRE will tie into Cornell’s award-winning, highly efficient district energy systems: Combined Heat & Power Plant, Lake Source Cooling, and renewable energy sources, including hydro and solar.
* The NCRE will be LEED Gold certified. It will use less source energy (less gas) and create lower greenhouse gas emissions than if heat pumps were used.
* Because of ongoing, campus-wide energy efficiency programs, by the time NCRE is built, campus building energy use will be less than it is today, even with the addition of NCRE.
* It will perform better than state energy codes and suggested greenhouse gas emissions.
* The NCRE is consistent with existing usage and scale, and aligns with the Town of Ithaca’s master plan and current zoning, and City of Ithaca zoning. (The City doesn’t have a master plan.)
* It will contain no increase in parking.
* It will guarantee safe, quality, energy-efficient housing for all first-year and sophomore students. This will help alleviate the pressure that many first-year students feel to seek housing for their sophomore year, just weeks after arriving on campus and in Ithaca.
* It aligns with Cornell’s goal to provide all campus energy needs with 100% renewables and achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
* In short, the NCRE reflects Cornell’s long-standing commitment to campus sustainability. sustainablecampus.cornell.edu
We are grateful to Tompkins Weekly for providing space to flesh out details on an important project, for both community and campus.
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East Hill Notes are published the second and fourth Mondays in Tompkins Weekly. Gary Stewart is Cornell’s assistant vice president of community relations.
