Lehigh University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 goals (this is a sampling):
1) Complete an inventory of academic courses that include sustainability and make publicly available.
2) Include sustainability as a learning outcome when graduating from degree earning programs.
3) Conduct an annual sustainability literacy assessment that focuses on knowledge of sustainability topics and may also address values, behaviors and/or beliefs.
4) Establish an ongoing program that offers incentives for faculty in multiple disciplines or departments to develop new sustainability courses and/or incorporate sustainability into existing courses or departments. The program specifically aims to increase student learning of sustainability.

In Fall 2020, the Office of Sustainability finalized Lehigh's Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030 and it was adopted by senior leadership. The 2030 Plan has a focus area called Educational Experience with associated goals. This will be described more in our next STARS report.

Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 goals (this is a sampling):
1) Extend the peer-to-peer sustainability outreach program to reach 100% of undergraduate and graduate students by 2020.
2) Provide an opportunity for all undergraduate, transfer and graduate students to participate in orientation activities and programming that include sustainability.
3) Extend the faculty/staff peer-to-peer sustainability outreach program to reach an additional 8% of faculty and staff by adding 10 new offices per year.
4) Cover sustainability topics in new employee orientation and/or in outreach and guidance materials distributed to new employees, including faculty and staff.
5) Provide training and professional development opportunities about sustainability available to all staff at least once a year.
6) Create a lab program targeting behavioral change comprehensively across areas of energy, waste, water, and materials.

In Fall 2020, the Office of Sustainability finalized Lehigh's Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030 and it was adopted by senior leadership. The 2030 Plan has a focus area called Culture & Engagement with associated goals. This will be described more in our next STARS report.

Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 goals (this is a sampling):
1) Create an energy management plan that addresses campus growth and building needs, energy efficiency retrofits, behavior change opportunities and future reduction targets that reduces energy use per sq ft by 25% over 2007 baseline.
2) Create sustainable buildings operations and maintenance
guidelines or policy.
3) Establish sustainable building design and construction
guidelines or policy to LEED Silver or equivalent standards.
4) Employ life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) to evaluate energy
and water life cycle using products, systems and building components.

In Fall 2020, the Office of Sustainability finalized Lehigh's Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030 and it was adopted by senior leadership. The 2030 Plan has a focus area called Campus Operations with associated goals. This will be described more in our next STARS report.

Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 goals (this is a sampling)
1) Administer or participate in programs to help build a diverse
faculty
2) To create policies and programs to make accessible and support non-traditional students.`
3) Conduct surveys to measure employee satisfaction and engagement addressing: job satisfaction, work/life balance and learning and advancement opportunities.

In Fall 2020, the Office of Sustainability finalized Lehigh's Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030 and it was adopted by senior leadership. The 2030 Plan has a focus area called Focused Leadership with associated goals. This will be described more in our next STARS report.

Lehigh defines sustainability as the integration of social equity, environmental stewardship and economic prosperity into campus-wide administrative, academic and operational processes. We recognize that we must combine our individual and collective energy to coordinate efforts across campus for the benefit of Lehigh and the community at large. `

Lehigh's Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030 was adopted in October 2020, as a result it is outside the timeframe of this STARS report. We will report on the 2030 Plan specifically in our next STARS report.

Lehigh University is committed to achieving sustainability in action, thought, and practice. To this end, a series of guidelines and commitments have been put into place that lay out a path to sustainability. These documents define the path forward: goals and directives focused on achieving environmental, economic, and social sustainability at Lehigh University.

Climate Commitment: A 2009 document that pledges to make environmental sustainability and climate change an institutional priority.

Diversity Commitments: A series of commitments including The Principles of Our Equitable Community, a list of nine core principles that serve as the foundation of our university community.

Energy Policy: A 2014 document that outlines how Lehigh will reduce energy consumption and energy-related greenhouse gas emissions on its campuses through infrastructural and technical strategies as well as everyday efforts of students, faculty, staff, and university visitors (the “university community”)

Website URL: http://sustainability.lehigh.edu/commitments


Sustainability planning was not impacted by COVID-19 and therefore is representative of a normal year.