Overall Rating Platinum
Overall Score 86.35
Liaison Lisa Kilgore
Submission Date March 3, 2022

STARS v2.2

Cornell University
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete N/A
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Mission Sustainability (a sustainability module)

A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Starting in August 2020, all incoming undergraduate students (first-year and transfer students) now complete a new sustainability module entitled "Mission Sustainability" as part of the student "To-Do List." This course includes four parts: a climate & sustainability literacy survey, a 13-minute video about sustainability at Cornell, an exploration of sustainability-related campus resources, and a short reflection essay.
The public does not have access but here is a link the students use: https://newstudents.cornell.edu/fall-2022/first-year --- but the public cannot access.

Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Curriculum
Wellbeing & Work

Optional Fields

Website URL where more information about the accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
EN-2

A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
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Second Point of Distinction

Name of a second highlighted sustainability program/initiative/accomplishment:
Earth Source Heat Project

A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Cornell's Earth Source Heat project is a collaborative exploration into a geothermal system that would use the earth's heat to warm the Ithaca campus. Faculty and students from various science and engineering departments are working together with campus facilities staff on this living laboratory project. Earth Source Heat is a major component of Cornell University’s proposed solutions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.

Cornell secures a $7.2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to fund exploratory research to help verify the feasibility of using a novel geothermal energy system to heat its campus buildings.

Cornell anticipates drilling an exploratory borehole in May 2022.

Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Research
Air & Climate
Energy

Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
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A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:

Third Point of Distinction

Name of a third highlighted program/initiative/accomplishment:
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A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
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Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
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Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
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STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
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A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.