Beyond the bend, above, stands a hydroelectric plant built in the early 1900s and still in use. While Cornell relies primarily on a local utility, innovations such as the $58 million Lake Source Cooling project have helped reduce the university's fossil fuel consumption.

Lake Source Cooling works by piping warm water from the campus and cold water from the lake to an exchange facility near Ithaca Falls. There, campus pipes run through vats of lake water, cooling their contents for use on campus. The water never mixes, so environmental impact is negligible, yet campus air-conditioning costs have been reduced by 87 percent.