2025 Progress on Climate Action

Through a strategic combination of energy efficiency initiatives, conservation efforts, and renewable sourcing, Lehigh is proactively diminishing its greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the impacts of global climate change. We remain dedicated to discovering innovative, resilient solutions that address environmental shifts, ensuring our campus leads by example in the transition toward a more sustainable future.

The Goodman Campus solar array, which went live in 2024, has already produced 8.68 GWh of clean energy—offsetting 8% of our total grid consumption. While we maintain 100% renewable electricity via strategic RECs and Power Purchase Agreements, we are simultaneously reducing demand. We have begun retrofitting 14 major buildings with high-efficiency variable-speed chillers and continue to support our local partners by contributing our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory data to the City of Bethlehem.

Resiliency

Update: As of 2023, this goal was underway but not yet complete, as the work is ongoing. The following work has been accomplished: 

DEPP (Disaster Emergency Effective Program): The Disaster Recovery Framework was revised to encompass a broader range of potential emergencies and ensure streamlined response protocols. These revisions focused on LTS business continuity planning, communications between Lehigh's emergency management plan and local/state/federal agencies.

Support to Departments: 

  • Continued assistance to departments in creating and refining continuity plans tailored to their specific operational needs. 
  • Regular meetings with departments have enhanced understanding of emergency preparedness and response strategies, promoting a culture of readiness.

Insurance Carrier-Delivered Training: Introduced additional training sessions provided by our cyber security and property insurance carriers, focusing on Cyber incident response strategies, property loss mitigation, and recovery.

Enhancements to LTS Response Plans: Collaborated with Library and Technology Services (LTS) to update response plans, ensuring robust protections against cyber threats and IT disruptions.

Community Collaboration: 

  • Shared Assessment: The resiliency assessment was shared with the City of Bethlehem through meetings between Environmental Safety and Health, LUPD, Risk Management, and LTS, fostering a collaborative approach to implementing the recommendations and preparing for emergencies.
  • Multi-Agency Coordination Exercises: Active participation in coordinated exercises with local, state, and federal agencies to improve interagency collaboration.

Update: Lehigh contributes its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions inventory to the City of Bethlehem, as it is a signatory of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. As part of that commitment, the City completed GHG emissions inventories in 2017, 2022, and 2024. 

Next Steps: The Office of Sustainability intends to continue to contribute its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions inventory to the City of Bethlehem annually as requested.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Update: In April 2022, Lehigh released the Climate Action Strategy (CAS), which outlines 9 major emissions reduction strategies and establishes a goal of achieving net carbon neutrality by 2040. The CAS is now in the implementation phase.

Update: Partnering with Purchasing Services' Travel and OneCard coordinator has improved the Office of Sustainability's ability to more accurately track air travel and personal mileage. For commuting, the triennial Sustainability Culture Survey provides commuting data, which is then modeled annually for both employees and students during off-survey years.

Update: Progress has paused, and considerations are being made as to how and if this goal will continue to be pursued. 

Beginning in 2020, extensive research and discussions occurred to understand existing carbon offset companies. In Fall 2021, the Sustainability Survey administered by the Office of Institutional Research and Strategic Analytics, collected commuter insights on incentives, interest in greenhouse gas emissions offset programs, and preferred locations for additional EV charging infrastructure. The development of the Climate Action Strategy in 2022 further supported this goal and will continue to guide next steps.

Energy Efficiency

Update: Lehigh is currently replacing two of its largest chillers at the APC central plant, which serve 14 buildings on the Asa Packer Campus. What were constant-speed chillers and pumps will be replaced with variable-speed chillers and pumps, along with new cooling towers, to save energy. In summer 2025, Lehigh also upgraded the HVAC controls in the Wilbur building.

Next Steps: Lehigh hired an engineering firm to design a stand-alone boiler system for the Centennial I residential complex, aimed at taking this complex off the central plant steam system in a future year.

*Additional funding and resources needed.

Update: Facilities transitioned its space management software to Esri Indoors in 2024. The new software allows for more streamlined and readily accessible space data across campus while maintaining existing features for tracking space utilization on campus. 

Next Steps: Facilities plans to continue facilitating the annual space audit with a goal of garnering high percentages of responses using the new software so that we can more accurately assess and track utilization of spaces. 

Update: This project is still ongoing, but all major campus buildings have been retrofitted with LEDs now.

Next Steps: The remaining buildings that still need to be retrofitted with LEDs are the smaller buildings in Warren Square and along Brodhead Ave. Some outdoor walkway lights also need to be retrofitted.

*Additional funding and resources needed.

Update: This goal was aimed at energy-intensive buildings like laboratories, dining halls, and data centers. The only large renovation of these types of buildings completed in the past year was at the Clayton University Center. 

Next Steps: Lehigh plans to perform major renovations at Whitaker Lab and Iacocca Hall although no specific timelines for such projects have been established yet.

*Additional funding and resources needed.

Update: Life-cycle cost analyses are still being done on an ad hoc basis. They are done on some projects, but they are not done routinely on all projects. 

Next Steps: Paused; however, Lehigh plans to continue identifying more projects in which this can be included.

Renewable Energy

Update: Lehigh has been offsetting 100% of its electricity consumption with Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for several years. Lehigh (with eight other schools) signed a new power purchase agreement (PPA) in October 2023 to obtain solar power and RECs from a site in KY that is expected to begin operating in early 2027.  Lehigh has been purchasing RECs from other sites in the interim.  Lehigh’s on-site solar array on the Goodman Campus began operating in mid-June 2024.

Next Steps: Lehigh plans to continue offsetting all of its electricity consumption with renewable energy for the foreseeable future.

Update: The intended pathway to complete this goal was to use a renewable fuel oil instead of natural gas in the central plants. The Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF), which promotes this idea, has yet to assist any regional organization with implementing this idea. 

Next Steps: Progress on this goal is delayed due to external factors. 

Transportation

Update: In 2021, an Alternative Fuel Study that assessed four different options for the future of Lehigh transportation was completed, and a plan was developed to fully transition the vehicle fleet to run exclusively on renewables by 2030. However, as a private institution, Lehigh does not qualify for any federal grants, and the cost of the buses and infrastructure to support the buses is an insurmountable barrier at this time.

*Additional funding and resources needed.