Cornell's lake-fed cooling system slashes campus energy use by 85%

Cornell University has been using a lake source cooling system since 2000 to meet its campus-wide cooling needs. The system draws cold water from 250 feet below the surface of Cayuga Lake, which maintains a temperature of around 39°F. Construction of the infrastructure began in 1999, making it one of the earlier large-scale sustainable cooling initiatives in higher education. The system has achieved an 85% reduction in annual energy consumption compared to conventional cooling methods. It stands as a notable example of how universities can leverage natural resources to significantly cut their environmental footprint.