Ithaca College
PAE-5: Climate Plan

Our campus has committed to becoming 100% carbon neutral by 2050. We have interim targets of 25% reductions by 2015 and 25% by 2025.

On the following pages, we have broken out specific actions among the three fundamental strategies for carbon reduction: reduce demand, improve system efficiencies, and switch fuels. While specific actions may vary, these are the key areas of emphasis for the first five years of our Climate Action Plan: 1. identify low- or no-cost policy and program changes that hold the potential to yield immediate reductions a. meter and manage energy use so we are able to document actual energy savings for each building and major systems b. retro-commission all existing facilities to ensure that they are operating as designed, and identify potential energy-saving actions c. improve programs and policies to support lower-carbon methods of commuting and business travel d. improve the fuel efficiency of our fleet vehicles 2. “harden” our long-term GHGE reduction targets – which are now based on soft estimates – after we more effectively characterize energy consumption, system performance and behaviors. The Building Characterization Worksheet, which captures existing information, will be completed as part of this process. 3. address the significant fork-in-the-road that needs to be resolved as aging HVAC plant needs to be replaced. The use of financial instruments (offsets or RECs) is a fourth strategy that needs to be explored. We want to explore the viability of investing in community-based offsets as a means to: (1) offset emissions that cannot be handled cost-effectively through direct reductions, and (2) support local initiatives and internalize the benefits of offset purchases within our regional economy. Facilities Most of these actions will use existing staff resources, and have no incremental additional cost. The goal for this five-year period is to get a better handle on our operations and prepare ourselves to make more-informed decisions about significant actions to be taken commencing in Year 6. Year 1 (FY 2010-11) During the first year, we recommend: • Meter and manage energy is probably the most critical initial investment because it will allow us to track the actual performance of actions intended to create long-term, ongoing reductions in both energy use and CO2e. In Year 1, Energy Management will be assigned and building metering installed. • To leverage that investment in energy management, we will also upgrade lighting and direct-digital controls for HVAC systems. Controls upgrades for lighting and mechanical equipment (which may be done as part of the retro-commissioning process) will help make the energy management function more effective. • To complement the more-effective monitoring of our energy-using systems, we need a more complete inventory of our energy using equipment.