David Skorton's signing of the Presidents Climate Commitment is another step in a long journey Cornell has been taking in sustainability efforts.

Upon signing the multi-university agreement Feb. 22, Skorton declared Cornell's goal of climate neutrality as only a piece of the larger picture. As Cornell and other institutions work toward similar climate-neutrality goals, Cornell officials hope the university also will take a more holistic approach to sustainability through its continued research and development of new technologies, and through teaching.

"Cornell is positioned to take a leadership role in sustainability education and research because of our tradition of collaboration across boundaries and the broad scope of our fields and colleges," Skorton said in his Feb. 22 statement about his signing the Presidents Climate Commitment.

Cornell's breadth across disciplines permits an integrated approach to problems that cannot be solved by any one discipline, noted Provost Carolyn "Biddy" Martin, pointing to Cornell's interdisciplinary strengths already focused on sustainability issues.

From engineering expertise in fuel cell and alternative energy development to soil health and animal medicine in agriculture, life sciences and veterinary medicine, to improving business practices and water management, sustainability is already a front-and-center issue for many Cornell researchers, Martin noted.

In addition, Cornell's development economists and sociologists collaborate with soil, plant and climate scientists to create integrated approaches to problems of sustainability in the developing world, while other Cornell faculty have expertise in sustainable design and buildings, indoor air quality and environmental law.

"Cornell can and will contribute significantly to the longer-term solutions through its research and teaching," Martin said.

Despite those long-term goals, shorter-term efforts are already in play to reduce Cornell's emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading greenhouse gas implicated in global warming. As Skorton noted, "Cornell's undertaking, while momentous in its occasion, represents a continuation of a proud history of research, teaching and campus stewardship to reduce its environmental footprint, most notably through the success of the Lake Source Cooling project, building LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) housing for students on West Campus, and most recently, the university's Combined Heat and Power Project."

Conventional electricity-generating plants that burn fossil fuels, mainly coal and natural gas, emit CO2 into the atmosphere. About 62 percent of Cornell's total emissions stem from its campus central heating plant; the rest is from regional utility plants that produce electricity Cornell purchases through New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG).

In fiscal 2006, Cornell's Ithaca campus caused indirect emissions of 98,000 tons of CO2 from NYSEG-purchased electricity and produced 171,000 tons of direct emissions from coal used by the campus central heating plant.

Shrinking Cornell's carbon footprint, or carbon output, said W.S. (Lanny) Joyce, manager of engineering, planning and energy management in the Department of Utilities and Energy Management, can be done in several ways, many of which Cornell is already pursuing. Once conventional conservation and supply options are fully employed, innovative green buildings and supply choices such as biofuels, wind, solar and emerging technologies will be needed, he said.

Among Cornell's most ambitious carbon emissions reduction efforts will be its Combined Heat and Power Project, scheduled to come online in 2009. The plant, which will use gas turbine technology to produce heat and electricity from one source, promises to cut carbon emissions by about 20 to 30 percent, or more than 50,000 tons per year.

Cornell's Lake Source Cooling plant, which came online in 2000, also saves 86 percent of the energy used for cooling buildings by conventional refrigeration. Instead, the buildings are cooled using water from deep in Cayuga Lake, reducing total campus electricity use by 10 percent.

Cornell is ahead of the game with its comprehensive inventory of past years' CO2 emissions, available on the utilities and energy management department Web site, Joyce said.

Also notable are the Alice H. Cook House and Becker North, two new residence halls on the university's West Campus, which have been granted LEED certification. That means they have met the U.S. Green Building Council's stringent standards for environmentally friendly buildings, which incorporate sustainable materials, conserve energy and minimize impact on the environment.

Said Joyce, "First you establish your footprint; then you look at how you could use less energy. You strive toward a footprint that's zero, instead of the very large net positive. Since 2001, we have been striving toward a Kyoto goal [set by the United Nations Kyoto Protocol] of 1990 minus 7 percent by 2012. Our past and planned efforts are expected to let us meet that goal and go beyond it."