Campuses and regional units

• Our strong expertise in emission-free electricity production, our physical research environment and our way of operating are key enablers in terms of becoming carbon negative.
• In 2019, LUT's solar panels produced 5.4% of the electricity LUT consumed, and all of the electricity we purchase is produced with renewable energy.
• On the Lappeenranta campus, solar panels generates 508 kW and a wind turbine generates 20 kW of power, and there are also air-to-water heat pumps.
• Minimising and sorting waste and responsible procurement are part of our sustainable campus culture in accordance with LUT's waste disposal instructions.
• 0% of LUT's 181 tons of waste will be landfilled.
• Our campus restaurants have biowaste scales to monitor biowaste volumes and they have increased their sustainability e.g. by decreasing food waste with the ResQ mobile application. LUT arranges events sustainably and applies the principles of sustainable meeting arrangements published by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and WWF.
• LUT regularly monitors its water consumption. In 2019, the consumption was 3.18 m3 per person. LUT minimizes its water use with automatically closing water taps and campus vegetation which does not require irrigation.
• The cleanest drinking water in the world is provided free of charge for students, staff and visitors at LUT´'s campuses. Our research into waters also benefits local nature waters.
• We strive to reduce our environmental load by also investing in opportunities for remote work and distance learning. The development of digitalisation in education is guided by LUT's digital strategy and the support that we give teachers to help them use digital tools for pedagogically sustainable teaching.
• Many LUT degree programmes and study modules can be completed in a virtual learning environment, and LUT Academic Library materials are widely available in digital format. Digital Exam system environments provide the opportunity to take examinations in several cities. 

LUT's 2020 carbon footprint was 1593 tons CO2eq. The share of mobility was 51.4 per cent. The third largest emission source was food, amounting to 18.6 percent.

LUT's Total Carbon footprint 2019 was 2054 t CO2. The years 2019 and 2020 are not fully comparable because of arrangements related to COVID-19.

• LUT has calculated its carbon footprint according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) and has set targets for all three scopes of the protocol.
• In 2019 LUT employed for the first time the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standard GHG.

SCOPE 1: 9.7 t CO2 eq
Direct emissions from resources owned and controlled by LUT, including emissions from four owned cars.

SCOPE 2: 0 t CO2 eq
Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. LUT's electricity comes 100% from renewables, and therefore, it is considered that emissions from generation are zero.  The GHG Protocol says that a company does not account for GHG emissions from operations in which it owns an interest but has no control. The owner of LUT's buildings and the buyer of their district heating, the University Properties of Finland, has included district heating in its own calculations and already compensated for all the emissions. That is why district heating is excluded from the calculations.

SCOPE 3: 1583.7 t CO2 eq
Emissions are all indirect – not included in scope 2 – and emissions that  are linked to the value chain and operations  of LUT, e.g. business travel via CWT, food at  LUT Buffet, construction, maintenance.

LUT began operating on the energy-efficient Lahti campus in August 2019. We share our versatile teaching facilities and the J. Hyneman Centre prototype workshop with LAB University of Applied Sciences, which is part of the LUT Universities LAB also started to pursue carbon neutrality.

Both our campuses are accessible using public transport. Goals for energy efficiency are shared with the property operators, University Properties of Finland (SYK) and Isku Center. SYK's goal is for their campuses to be the most responsible campuses in Europe by 2030. In 2019 SYK developed the measurement of their carbon footprint.

In recognition of concrete actions to promote sustainable development and green technology, LUT won the Excellence in Campus category at the Sustainable Campus Excellence Awards in 2013.

LUT was the first university in Finland to have its environmental system certified according to the ISO 14001 standard. This took place in 2014-2016 and since then the system has been maintained in line with the certificate requirements. We have maintained the WWF's Green Office certificate since 2012.

LUT is part of international campus networks, PRME, ISCN ja NSCN, for sustainable development. The networks promote research and teaching related to sustainable development as well as the implementation of sustainable campuses. Read more about the networks.