The University of Calgary today will unveil an overarching climate action target that aims for a 45 per cent reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2015.
The university said as one of the largest energy users in the city, it felt a responsibility to cut its output and set an example for students and the community - especially since energy and the environment are research priorities.
"What it does is it shows that it can be done," said Joanne Perdue, director of campus sustainability.
"When you embrace it and move it forward, then the campus becomes like a living laboratory."
The emission cuts will be measured using 2008 as the base year, a time when the university calculates it was responsible for about 330,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gases.
The reductions will come even as the university expands. Perdue said there are numerous initiatives, but a major share of the reductions will come from the use of a cogeneration plant on campus, which should be up and running by next summer.
Instead of using the mostly coal-generated electricity from the province's power grid - or on-campus boilers for heat - the cogeneration plant will use a natural gas-powered turbine to satisfy most of the university's needs for both electricity and heat.
The other major source of emission reductions will come from driving down energy use in existing buildings. A $15-million upfront investment in retrofits will result in $3 million in annual utility savings.
Buildings will also be operated more efficiently. For instance, the university will move to consolidate evening courses in one building to save on power use.
Eventually, the university's plan calls for an 80 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050, a target many scientists have argued is necessary to adopt on a global scale to halt the most dangerous effects of man-made climate change.
Perdue said the university believes it is the first post-secondary institution in Alberta, and the second in Canada, to have a cohesive climate change plan.