ISTC’s latest case study features 2017 Illinois Sustainability Award winner Loyola University Chicago. Loyola is an urban Catholic Jesuit university located in near the Chicago lakefront. In 2015, they released a climate action plan which called for them to be carbon neutral by 2025.
Loyola incorporates several tools to ensure that sustainability issues are front and center to their students, staff, and communities. They include:
- Extensive use of gardens to manage storm water run-off and provide native
landscapes - Integration of sustainability issues into undergraduate curriculum providing
a environmental foundation for all students - Building, renovating, and managing campus structures to a high standard
of energy efficiency - Engaging the wider community in sustainability initiatives
Loyola’s actions have resulted in a variety of annual reductions and cost savings, including:
- 1,469,000 gallons of water saved
- 616 tons of material diverted from landfill
- 683,575 kWh reduced from high-performing buildings
- 19,288 mtCO2e reduced
- $130,000 dollars saved from natural gas use reduction