Be an Islander for a Day!
Come see what being a DeLaSalle student is all about as an Islander for a Day! Learn more and sign up by clicking here. We can't wait to welcome you to the Island!
Sustainability is part of DeLaSalle’s legacy – we have and will continue to take steps to set a sustainable agenda for our future so that we may create the same or even better opportunities for those generations who follow in our footsteps.
Such sustainable actions – composting our waste, using solar energy to meet our power needs, and reducing the amount of paper we consume, to name a few examples – are an effort in which we all take responsibility for a more sustainable school, more sustainable community, and more sustainable society. We recognize that our actions today will not only create an even better tomorrow but that they also directly impact our neighbors down the river – and those an ocean away.
DeLaSalle seeks to create an environment in which the young people of our urban area are empowered and enabled to create for themselves and others a functional, literate, safe community and world. With sustainability as a common thread to our planning, we ensure our ability to exist in the heart of Minneapolis for another century educating the world’s future leaders in the Lasallian tradition.
Commercial buildings like DeLaSalle that earn EPA’S ENERGY STAR certification use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The DeLaSalle campus performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.
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The City of Minneapolis has recognized DeLaSalle as an Building Energy Challenge award winner for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15 percent. DeLaSalle has reduced its emissions by 17 percent from 2014 to 2017 by replacing incandescent light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs, replacing an aging boiler, and installing occupancy sensors and a building automation system.
In February 2015, three dozen DeLaSalle students participated in a youth-led day at the state Capitol to promote an increase in clean energy in Minnesota. The students met with the state senators and representatives who represent them in the Legislature to press them into improving Minnesota’s Renewable Energy Standard to 40 percent by 2030. A law passed in 2007 already requires 25 percent of energy come from renewable sources – like wind and solar energy – by 2025. Students also lobbied to raise the yearly energy savings goal for utilities from 1.5 percent to 2 percent.
Kumar Flower Kay ‘15 played a significant role in organizing and promoting the clean energy lobby day through his internship with the Will Steger Foundation.
The day culminated in a student-driven discussion panel with Governor Dayton, who voiced his support for an improved clean energy plan.
Interested students, parents, and volunteers gather every spring to help clean up the DeLaSalle campus and Nicollet Island. The Parent Association first began the cleanup day in 2007 and continues to manage the annual event. Volunteers meet at DeLaSalle, then go out in groups to clean up the island. We encourage volunteers to bring a rake and gloves, if they have them. The work includes raking, picking up garbage, and other cleanup efforts. The Parent Association traditionally hosts a free barbecue after the cleanup and we invite cleanup volunteers to join us.
Please visit the Parent Association webpage for more information about the annual cleanup day.
Come see what being a DeLaSalle student is all about as an Islander for a Day! Learn more and sign up by clicking here. We can't wait to welcome you to the Island!