Lake Source Cooling at Ithaca High School

The Lake Source Cooling facility on Ithaca High School’s campus is a small brick building at the back of the campus, near the bus stop on Lake Street. When Cornell University planned to install the Lake Source Cooling System, it made a promise to give back to the local community for using Cayuga Lake and running pipes through the city. This promise included providing Ithaca High School with Lake Source Cooling and a direct optic ethernet to the university. In addition, students tour the Lake Source Cooling facilities each year to learn more about what a carbon-free future might look like. Although installing the LSC system strained some relationships between the university and the community, it saves both Ithaca High School and Cornell University a lot of money and energy due to its innovative nature. The system began operation in the summer of 2000, and is the first major deep water cooling system installed in the United States.