“You don’t wake up one morning and say Luther is going to be known for sustainability. A lot of things happen over a long period of time, until it comes to a tipping point.”
                                                                                 President Richard Torgerson, January 2007

What follows is a list of Luther’s major accomplishments with regard to sustainability in college operations:

Buildings, Energy, and Climate

• Greenhouse gas inventory completed for fiscal years 2003-2008.
• Installation of geothermal systems in a student housing complex in 1999 and an arts building in 2003 reduced heating and cooling costs by 40 percent.
• A 64,000 square foot science building was built to LEED Silver standards in 2008.
• A Rocky Mountain Institute seed grant in July 2009 will be used to develop a comprehensive energy conservation program.
• A $1.5 million investment in energy efficiency in 2004 reduced peak electricity consumption by approximately 20 percent and the campus carbon footprint by 15.5 percent.
• The purchase of approximately 2,500 renewable energy certificates from a local community wind project will reduce Luther’s carbon footprint by an additional 7.4 percent.
• Luther has taken initial steps this month to install a 1.65 MW wind turbine near campus, which would produce about one third of our electricity and reduce our carbon footprint by an additional 15 percent.
• Luther has received a professional feasibility study for a biomass boiler that would displace approximately 62 percent of the college's natural gas consumption and reduce the campus carbon footprint by an additional 14.2 percent.
• Luther has received a professional feasibility study to install a 10 kW solar photovoltaic system that would produce about the same amount of electricity per year that is consumed by the college’s fleet of electric vehicles.
• In 2007 Luther invested $10,000 in equipment to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel, which it uses in a 50/50 blend to power lawn and garden vehicles.
• Luther has purchased eight electric vehicles over the last three years, which emit 76 percent fewer emissions and cost 84 percent less to operate than their gasoline-powered predecessors.
• Over the past four years Luther has purchased eight gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. President Torgerson drives one of these vehicles; the rest are part of the college’s much-used rental fleet.
• Luther’s Bike Share program was started in April 2008 to promote physical fitness and environmental wellness, including the reduction of vehicle emissions.

Dining Services and Waste Reduction

• Luther has increased its consumption of local foods over the past two years from 2 percent to 12 percent of total food purchases, which has brought us closer to our goal of 35 percent.
• Luther adopted a trayless cafeteria in January 2009 to reduce environmental and economic costs.
• Last year students recycled an estimated 3,000 pounds of paper, 3,600 pounds of cardboard and 550 pounds of tin and plastic per week. Our goal is to reduce solid waste by 25 percent.
• Vigorous recycling during the construction of the Sampson Hoffland Laboratories prevented more than 75 percent of the construction debris from going to the county landfill.
• Approximately 80 percent of the materials recovered during renovation of the student union in 2005-06 were either sold to the public or recycled.
• In September 2008, nearly 500 first-year and transfer students helped to clean, sort, and stack part of 750 tons of bricks recovered from the demolition of a historic school in Decorah.