Sustainability Plan

SINCE 2014, WE HAVE REDUCED UTILITY CONSUMPTION IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS:

WATER 8%

ELECTRICAL 17%

NATURAL GAS 18%

WE’LL KEEP LEADING THE WAY 1. Continue to reduce carbon emissions In support of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, we are on pace to reduce the annual carbon emissions by 19% below the fiscal year 2018 emissions by 2024. We will continue to partner with Xcel Energy to complete energy audits and recommissioning studies for existing buildings. We will also continue to pursue energy conservation measures and implement submetering of gas, electricity, water and steam for all buildings greater than 50,000 square feet in size. Finally, we will partner with Ever-Green Energy to identify preferred implementation strategies for carbon neutrality. 2. Design all new buildings to a minimum of LEED Silver standards We will adopt a policy for sustainable construction and ensure that all new buildings larger than 25,000 square feet will be designed and constructed to achieve a LEED Silver certification or better. For example, the current 2019 planned construction project for the second-year housing building will be designed and constructed to achieve LEED Gold certification or better.

Percent of university-owned gross square feet (GSF) that achieves LEED certification:

Fall 2018 (Current)

Fall 2020 (Planned)

Fall 2024 (Projected)

Total Campus Gross Square Feet (GSF)

3,191,084

3,505,880

3,617,418

Total LEED-Certified Space (GSF) Percentage of LEED Certified Space

261,400

628,491

745,491

8%

18%

21%

3. Continue broad focus of sustainable operations and maintenance We will develop and implement a Sustainable Facilities Operations and Maintenance program that has a focus on waste minimization, responsible land care, formalized policies on indoor air quality, green cleaning and reducing energy and water consumption. We also plan to minimize waste through recycling, reuse, reduce and donation processes, and implement a campus-wide organics collection system to support a goal of diverting 65% of materials from solid waste by 2024 and 80% by 2030. We will adopt an integrated pest management program for all campus grounds, and adopt policies that result in a 10% reduction of water and energy consumed on campus by 2024.

% Total waste/recycling 2016-17

% Total waste/recycling 2017-18

52%

56%

48%

44%

ecycling, compost, ganics, donations

Recycling, compost, organics, donations

Recycling, compost, organics, donations

aste

Waste

Waste

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