The University of Minnesota is a national leader in developing and launching sustainable solutions that safeguard the health of our planet, people, plants and animals on its five campuses.

Take a look back at some of the sustainability accomplishments at each campus over the past year.

Crookston campus

The Crookston campus has continued support for student internships focused on sustainability.

“I have students doing a variety of different projects such as conducting a sustainability literacy assessment for the entire campus or making a compost tracking system,” says Katy Chapman, sustainability director. “This project gave us some of the additional points we needed for achieving our Gold STARS rating.”

Another student did a biodiversity assessment by encouraging students to take photos of the living organisms on all University-owned lands. The student motivated Crookston students to upload these photos to iNaturalist, a nonprofit social network and citizen science platform mapping global biodiversity observations, as part of their science course laboratory work.

Currently, some software engineering students are working on making a virtual free store — like a free swap — to save on using a physical space to store items.

Once spring truly arrives and the ground thaws, faculty, staff and students will plant 800 trees across campus, inspired by its goal to be climate neutral, as outlined in its Climate Action Plan.

Duluth campus

The Duluth campus has made significant progress in installing more sustainable lighting.

“Our biggest investment from Facilities Management has been continued funding for the campus conversion to LEDs,” says Jonna Korpi, director of the Office of Sustainability. “We'll have spent more than $1 million in FY26 on these continued upgrades and are 80% of the way complete for the all-campus conversion.”

In addition, the campus finished a $25 million remodel of the main production kitchen in January 2026 that improves culinary opportunities, employee health and safety, and sustainability. The remodel will save approximately 245,000 kilowatt-hours per year.

In March 2026, the campus also launched the Urban Excellence Institute with a grant from the Knight Fund of the Boreal Waters Community Foundation, which promotes climate resilience, among other priorities. The program brings together University of Minnesota Duluth researchers and students, and Duluth residents to discuss sustainable urban development and community-connected experiences.

Morris campus

The Morris campus received a Gold Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Reporting System (STARS) rating for the fifth time.

“University of Minnesota Morris is a sustainability leader in Minnesota and across the United States,” says Troy Goodnough, sustainability director. “This achievement is further evidence that sustainability efforts are being led across the campus by students, faculty, staff and campus leadership.”

The campus’s partnership in the nationally recognized Morris Model continues to advance shared sustainability aspirations in the community, including work that supports energy conservation, clean energy expansion, community resilience efforts, technical partnerships and more.

Rochester campus

The Rochester campus achieved a Silver rating on the campus's first STARS report in recognition of its sustainability achievements.

“This achievement is a small sample of the important and valuable work we are doing to advance our commitment to sustainability, with more to come including the implementation of new climate plans for our campus in collaboration with the city of Rochester; growing our partnerships and engagement to enhance impact; and furthering our efforts for student success,” says Chancellor Lori Carrell.

The campus also hired its first sustainability student assistants, focused on implementing initiatives related to health and sustainability, along with student engagement on sustainability topics. These students were named 2026 Impact Award Winners for their sustainability efforts leading toward a future where people and the environment prosper.

Twin Cities campus

The Twin Cities campus incorporated many sustainability features into two new buildings.

The University of Minnesota Libraries Collections Facility, which is expected to house over 3 million items, has many sustainability features including solar panels, stormwater systems and a geoexchange system developed by University scientists.

In January 2025, the Gymnastics Performance Center opened and combines sustainability and innovation to support athlete performance and well-being through using 80% less energy than a similar facility that was built 20 years earlier. Its large translucent windows provide daylight without excessive glare, retain heat in the winter and provide a barrier to bird strikes. The building also has a solar array on the roof.

Most recently, Northrop became Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified Gold in the Existing Building category, which is a first for the University.

The Twin Cities campus is also tripling on-campus solar in 2026, going from two to six megawatts across eight installations. This will power the equivalent of more than 500 average Minnesota homes and it aligns with the Climate Action Plan goals, meeting an energy supply goal seven years early.

“It will provide significant renewable energy to campus,” says Kate M. Nelson, director of sustainability. “Numerous on-site solar carports and rooftop installations will be highly visible and productive, helping us continue on our ambitious path to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 or earlier.”

Learn more about how the University is building a fully sustainable future across all campuses.