The 2022 gold rating places Notre Dame, which had earned a silver rating with the previous report in 2017, among the top 23 percent of more than 680 reporting institutions across the world.

With more than 900 participants in 40 countries, the STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership.��

Using data from areas across the University including colleges, schools, Utilities, Notre Dame Research and Human Resources, the rating represents a campus-wide commitment to the goals set out in .��

The gold rating is due to several areas of improvement, including an increase in the number of students graduating from sustainability-oriented programs, expanded peer-to-peer sustainability outreach programs, overall reduction of water consumption, an increase in the quality and quantity of sustainable building design and construction, a reduction in the total volume of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the previous reporting cycle, and multiple innovative projects unique to the campus community.

The report is compiled every three years by Notre Dame’s Office of Sustainability, although an extension was granted in 2020 due to pandemic-related factors. The University will go through the application process again in 2024 with the goal of improving our rating. The Office of Sustainability has worked alongside University partners to reduce emissions, conserve resources and increase awareness of sustainability. The University has seen a reduction in the University’s overall carbon footprint of 39 percent during that time period. Further reductions are expected as the University benefits from such projects as the new St. Joseph Solar Farm and the Notre Dame Hydroelectric Facility at Seitz Park in downtown South Bend. These and other projects continue to move the University on the path toward carbon neutrality by 2050.

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Five new buildings totaling 245,000 square feet at the University of Notre Dame have received LEED certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Baumer Hall and Johnson Family Hall each earned Gold, and the Matthew and Joyce Walsh Family Hall of Architecture, the Irish Athletics Center and the new Corby Hall each received silver.

The University began building to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards in 2008, with the mission to achieve no less than LEED Silver for each new or newly renovated construction project on campus. The University also pursues sustainability measures beyond the scope of the LEED program that are not recognized for credit, including its commitment to sustainably produce a percentage of its own power and invest in features such as environmentally friendly slate roofs, which divert hundreds of used shingles from area landfills.����

Each building project is unique in its own way and incorporates sustainability initiatives based on the individual needs of the building. More than 250 points were achieved in the USGBC score rating process. In all, the five buildings diverted more than 12,736 tons of waste from landfills into recycled materials. The incorporation of low-flow water fixtures and water bottle filling stations in each building, along with the use of advanced irrigation technology, gives a projected annual water savings of 7,536,928 gallons. Thanks to LED lighting, lighting controls technology, and highly efficient HVAC equipment, the buildings’ combined energy savings of more than 1,551,844 kilowatt-hours equates to the energy required to power 145 homes for a year.��

During the Jan. 26 virtual USGBC Indiana Leadership Awards Celebration, the Johnson Family Hall project received an honorable mention in the 2021 USGBC Indiana Leadership Awards in the Green Building of the Year New Construction category for its many sustainable building features.

The series opened with Professor ’s presentation on "The Indiana Watershed Initiative:��Fighting for Freshwater Using a Translational Approach."��Tank’s extensive research experience aims at better understanding the role that small streams play in removing nitrogen from the water near agricultural land, which could otherwise pollute downstream ecosystems.��Her research was featured on the University’s “What Would You Fight For” series.��Tank is an international authority on the cycling of nutrients in freshwater ecosystems and has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles on nitrogen and carbon cycling in streams and rivers.��

Remaining sessions will take place on Fridays from noon to 1��p.m.��The events are free and open to students, faculty, staff��and the public.��Beverages and light desserts will be provided, and we encourage you to bring your lunch and reusable beverage container.

Remaining scheduled seminars are as follows:

March 22, 1050 Jenkins Nanovic Hall: “Climate Vulnerability:��Measurement and Implications for Knowledge,” featuring .��Regan is a professor of and and the associate director of the for , a University effort that seeks to understand the effects of climate change through a lens of human social adaptation.

April 5, C-103 Hesburgh Center:��“Notre Dame Goes Greener:��An Energy Infrastructure Update,” featuring Paul Kempf, who��received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Notre Dame in 1980.��He began his career at the University in 1989 and is currently serving as the senior director of the utilities and maintenance departments.��These two departments are responsible for the operation of the campus’s combined heat and power plant, distribution of all centrally produced utilities, and the maintenance of more than 11 million gross square feet of campus facilities.��Kempf oversees a staff of over 100 University employees as well as another 100-plus contract employees involved in projects, operations, maintenance and repairs.��Kempf is also a registered professional engineer in the state of Indiana.

Originally published by Donnetta McClellan at on March 7.

The 30,000-square-foot East Plant will house the mechanical equipment for the new geothermal well fields located beneath the adjacent Ricci Fields. The plant includes two 2,000-ton electric-driven chillers and a thermal energy storage tank with the capacity to store 2 million gallons of chilled water.

“This new facility supports campus energy growth using efficient and renewable energy strategies,” said Paul Kempf, senior director of utilities and maintenance. “The East Plant will be the conduit for our largest geothermal project by utilizing efficient electricity produced at the existing power plant and providing chilled water for cooling and hot water for heating.”

With a capacity of 1,350 tons, the East Plant’s five geothermal heat recovery chillers will provide both heating and cooling. The chilled water they produce will be a source for the campus distribution system while the hot water will be piped to nearby buildings to provide an efficient and greener approach to heating.

The new thermal energy storage system will provide an efficient and cost-effective way for the University to meet campus peak energy needs by supplementing operating chillers during peak energy use hours. The thermal energy storage tank will store chilled water generated by the East Plant during off-peak hours. This stored chilled water can then be used to mitigate the need to run additional chillers during on peak periods.�� The thermal energy storage system can provide up to 16,000 ton hours of chilled water.

Three new buildings on the northeast side of campus, Dunne, Flaherty and McCourtney halls, have all been designed and built to use the hot water heating available from the geothermal system. The University anticipates incorporating this heating strategy into future campus buildings.

The East Plant is one of several utilities projects that are either in progress or planned in order to continue to meet the University’s carbon reduction goals.

Contact: Paul Kempf, senior director of utilities and maintenance, (574) 631-6594, paul.a.kempf.2@nd.edu