PLU & Energy
Pacific Lutheran University has a strong commitment to sustainability and responsible energy use on campus. Over the years, the university has worked to improve building efficiency, monitor energy consumption, and reduce its environmental impact through different campus initiatives. However, energy use on campus is not just about systems and buildings, but also involves the everyday choices made by students. Understanding how energy is used in daily campus life helps show why student awareness and action matter.
Energy isn’t something we usually think about. It’s not a class you sign up for or a building you walk into, but it’s everywhere.
It’s your phone charging overnight in Tingelstad.
It’s the hot water in your shower before 8 am.
It’s the Commons kitchen running all day.
It’s Sakai, Google Docs, Netflix, and now AI tools.
Energy is invisible until you start looking for it. Once you do, you realize how deeply integrated it is into college life. You become aware of the influence you can have as an individual on the entire PLU energy ecosystem.
This awareness also extends beyond campus life. Understanding energy at PLU helps students see how it is integrated into their future vocations and professional fields, from science and engineering to business, education, and the arts. To explore how energy connects across different disciplines and areas of study, read more here: PLU Energy & Interdisciplinary Connections.
How Can You Reduce Your Footprint?
Best Practices
Lighting and Heating:
- Turn off fairy lights and extra appliances such as TVs, kettles, and chargers when they are not in use.
- Avoid leaving devices charging overnight when possible, and unplug chargers once devices are fully charged.
- Manage Temperature: Use layers of blankets instead of space heaters, and keep windows closed when the heater is on.
- Help keep the room cool during summer; leave the windows open at night and close them and the blinds during the day to keep the room fresh.
Water and Laundry:
- Shorter Showers: Reduce shower time to save water.
- Cold Water Wash: Wash clothes in cold water to avoid high energy consumption from heating (Bonus: Your sweaters also stay new that way).
On Campus
- Utilize the recycling and composting infrastructure that is available across campus.
- Unplug chargers, appliances, and electronics when not in use.
- Keep windows and doors closed during heating or cooling to prevent energy waste.
- Print only when necessary and use double-sided printing when possible.
- Use reusable water bottles, mugs, and food containers to reduce waste on campus.
Residence Halls:
- Coordinate with roommates: Share a single fridge when you can or utilize the community fridge.
- Turn off the lights when leaving the room, and turn off the lounge and study room lights when you exit those or if you find them empty.
- Report Issues: Download AssetPlanner and log in with your PLU ePass. Now, students can directly report any maintenance issues. No need to wait for your RA!
Faculty & Staff
- Turn off lights when leaving offices, and prioritize natural daylight whenever possible (save the planet and save your circadian rhythm).
- Follow PLU’s official heating and cooling set points (76°F in summer, 68°F in winter) and avoid overriding building systems.
- Submit a facilities work order if temperatures fall outside the policy range instead of using personal heaters or opening windows.
Departments:
- Demonstrate and encourage energy-saving behaviors within your department.
- Share energy-saving expectations during departmental meetings and new staff orientation.
- Consider how energy sustainability is a part of your discipline.
Current PLU Energy Initiatives
- The funding, part of the Department of Commerce’s $45 million CBPG initiative
- Clean Buildings Performance Grant (CBPG) funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce.
- 725,000 square feet of campus space — a project that will save up to $200,000 annually
- Primarily support a comprehensive lighting upgrade to energy-efficient LEDs
- PLU will utilize the grant to develop crucial compliance documentation.
- PLU partnered with Ameresco.
- (CBPS), which targets buildings as the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington, accounting for 25% of statewide emissions.
Five students from Pacific Lutheran University were selected for the inaugural cohort of national Carnegie Young Leaders for Civic Preparedness fellowship, an initiative of Institute for Citizens & Scholars that supports 100 teams of young leaders across the United States in developing community-based civic projects. Through this program, students receive training, mentorship, and funding to design initiatives that address local challenges while building civic leadership and collaboration skills.
At PLU, the student fellows launched SustainaEd, a project focused on helping the campus and the broader Parkland community better understand how everyday energy choices affect the environment. The initiative combines accessible sustainability education, digital resources such as a student-built website, and campus engagement efforts to promote practical actions that support environmental responsibility. SustainaEd contributes to PLU’s broader sustainability efforts by connecting student leadership with community awareness and action around energy use and environmental impact.
Student Fellows: Sanjina Kumari, Ava Foley Helton, Elijah Hendrix, Luana Le’lato, Ashlley Barrera.
Community Mentor: Nicole Juliano.
Methods to reduce our energy usage needs to be shared for us to make larger changes. Clubs like GREAN (Grassroots Environmental Action Now) Club are great places for us to share ways to reduce our energy usage and make up for the damage it has caused. GREAN club is an on campus student organization where students can come together to explore sustainability practices and educate their fellow Lutes. They have helped enact campus wide initiatives like reusable boxes at the Commons and the PLU Orca Card. Even these local changes can give people the resources
Where we source our food has a big impact on energy usage. Many foods in grocery stores had to travel thousands of miles to make it to your local grocery store. Those miles add up to thousands of gallons of fuel, tons of CO2, and megawatts of electricity to keep it all cool. Choosing where you make a difference which is why it matters that PLU commits to sourcing food locally where-ever they can working with partners like Grand Central Bakery, Essential Bakery, Thundering Hooves or Crown S Ranch.
This research project is one of the undergraduate research initiatives supported by the S. Erving Severtson Research Fellowship at Pacific Lutheran University for the 2025-2026 academic year. The fellowship supports collaborative research between students and faculty across the social sciences, providing funding for student-led projects that address timely social, environmental, and policy questions. The project is conducted by student researcher Sanjina Kumari (PLU Class of 2027, Computer Science and Economics) in collaboration with faculty mentor Ryan Swartzentruber (Economics Department).
The project examines how the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure, particularly large-scale data centers, intersects with community demographics and environmental conditions. The team is analyzing national datasets on data center development, environmental indicators, and local demographics, and the research explores whether the environmental and resource impacts of data center growth are distributed equitably across communities, contributing to broader conversations about sustainability, technology infrastructure, and environmental justice.
The research has been accepted for presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and will also be presented at the Dr. Rae Linda Brown Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Showcase in 2026.
The PLU Community Garden is a shared space where students and people from the Parkland community can come together to grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers together. Using community gardens to supplement your diet or reduce your need to buy from grocers is a great way to lower your energy usage. Whether its fruits and veggies or flowers every item that you don’t have to buy from a grocery store, that shipped it from miles away, makes a difference in your energy usage.The garden is cared for by the Center of Diversity, Justice, and Sustainability (DJS), along with student leaders and community volunteers. Community members can also reserve a garden bed to grow their own food while following organic gardening practices. By growing food locally and encouraging people to care for shared land, the garden supports sustainability at PLU and promotes a more sustainable food system.
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