From reducing energy consumption to composting food wastes, the University has been following through with its plans to make campus more sustainable.

In 2008, the University signed the American College and University President Climate Commitment, agreeing to set goals and prepare a plan to reduce the campus’ environmental impact. In response to this commitment, the Climate Action Plan, or iCAP, was developed in 2010, listing plans for potential sustainability projects on campus.

Stephanie Lage, assistant to the director of the Office of Sustainability, said the short-term goals of iCAP will help to keep the University on track for its ultimate goal, which is for the University to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

There are approximately 75 short-term goals listed in iCAP, according to Pradeep Khanna, associate chancellor and overseer of the Office of Sustainability.

“These interim goals will generally reduce our carbon impact, our water usage and our electricity consumption,” Khanna said. “We’re responsible for making sure we follow our commitments and meet our goals.”

So far, Khanna said the University has been on track with many of the projects listed in iCAP. The University no longer uses coal to generate power during summer months and a new policy requires that all new buildings have LEED gold certification.

He added that the newest building on campus, the electrical and computer engineering building currently in construction, will exceed these standards with a LEED platinum certification.

In addition, a large-scale food composting project, which will take all the food thrown out at dining halls to a composting site on campus, is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. A bike sharing program is expected to launch in May.

One of the University’s biggest accomplishments so far, according to Morgan Johnston, sustainability coordinator at Facilities and Services, is the decrease in energy consumption. The goal was to achieve a 20 percent reduction in energy consumption by 2015 and the campus has already reached a reduction of 19 percent.

Johnston said much of this progress is owed to the students on campus who have been involved in the projects. Students for Environmental Concerns, the registered student organization that initiated the sustainability fees that all students now pay, has been a leading advocate for sustainability, along with the Student Sustainability Committee, or SSC, the funding board in charge of allocating those fees.

SSC and Students for Environmental Concerns member Emily Cross, junior in LAS, said although many projects are on track, many are also postponed.

“Things at the University move fairly slowly sometimes,” Cross said. “Projects get held up, and there’s no incentive to move that along unless people are paying attention.”

Two projects have already been cancelled, including plans for a wind turbine that University administration nixed in May 2011.

“It’s really important that people get involved and show the University that we are paying attention and that we care,” Cross said. “These aren’t empty promises to us; these are meaningful and challenging goals, and we expect them to keep as many of them as they can.”