Our Sustainability Story

Clemson University’s commitment to sustainability is fundamental. It is not something new. It is long-standing, deep and broad. It goes all the way back to our founder and our founding mission.

In an 1868 letter to the journal American Farmer, Thomas Green Clemson wrote: “When nature’s bank refuses to honor the drafts of the population for meat and bread … science is the only foundation on which we can depend for the recuperation of exhausted lands, or sustaining the fertility of those that are already tilled.”

Sustainable agriculture and a sustainable economy – these were Mr. Clemson’s goals in advocating for a college that focused on scientific education and research in the 19th Century. These issues are woven into the history of our institution and into the fabric of our academic enterprise across campus and across disciplines.

Sustainable Environment was one of the University’s emphasis areas spelled out in a 10-year plan developed in 2000. We re-committed to that emphasis in the new Clemson 2020 Road Map. Clemson University’s concern for the environment and a sustainable future is reflected in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field – arenas in which we carry out our missions of teaching, research and service.

As an institution, Clemson adopted a Sustainable Building Policy in 2004 and a sustainable Energy Policy in 2008. Clemson had the first LEED-certified public building in South Carolina and has now completed nine LEED-certified projects, with four others in the works. We pledged to reduce overall energy consumption 20% by the year 2020, and to increase energy sourcing from renewable resources by 10% by 2025. Energy use and carbon emissions on campus peaked in 2007, and have since declined even though we’ve added to the total square footage.

President James F. Barker was a charter signatory to the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and Clemson is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. In 2009, we established the President’s Commission on Sustainability with broad representation from every segment of the university community and responsibility to develop a comprehensive Sustainability Plan. The first draft of the plan was filed with the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment in December 2010. It envisions the University as a living/learning laboratory where students are the top priority and sustainability is valued and integrated into every department and every discipline. The goal to be carbon neutral – a Net Zero Campus – by 2030 is particularly ambitious and aggressive. It will touch every aspect of campus life. It will require a comprehensive approach, including significant cultural and behavioral changes. We also need to make major upgrades and investments in our aging campus infrastructure and eliminate the use of coal on campus.

The story of sustainability at Clemson University is never-ending. It’s the story of how we’re finding ways to meet our present-day needs without compromising the ability of future generations of Tigers to meet their own needs.