Campus Initiatives

Cornell University has been a global leader in sustainability since the early 1880s, and our goal is to push the boundaries of sustainable campus design with smart, green buildings, diverse landscapes that encourage natural play and exploration, and low carbon renewable energy systems to power our research, laboratories, and residential facilities. 

Our campus is a living laboratory for sustainability in action.  Here, we use our campus for teaching, research, and study, and harness the creativity of our community to accelerate change. Explore our living laboratory to learn more about how we are harnessing our campus for global impact, hands-on learning, and local solutions.

Our areas of focus include teaching and research, climate change leadership, campus systems like green buildings, energy systems, food, our grounds, land & water, recycling and purchasing for smart materials management, and transportation to and from campus, and social justice, work-life balance, and human wellbeing.

Explore the focus areas in this section to learn more about the sustainability features of the Cornell campus and ongoing initiatives to improve our operations and culture of sustainability.