Cornell University Sustainable Design

What Cornell University Sustainable Design does

Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD), legally registered as Sustainable Design at Cornell, is a student-run interdisciplinary project team founded in 2009 and operating as a registered student organization of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The organization brings together 200+ active student members from all seven Cornell colleges alongside 1,000+ alumni to execute 30+ concurrent sustainability projects organized into ten sub-teams: Aquaculture (computer-vision fish behavior monitoring and automated feeding), ARC (Swapp circular-economy app), Currents (calendar-driven HVAC optimization), MarComm (communications), Soil Factory (biochar nutrient recycling), Solar Panel Reboot (PV panel refurbishment and indoor solar simulator), Sustainable City (downtown Ithaca revitalization), Sustainable Mobility (modular bus shelter design), Sustainable Education (school infrastructure for underserved regions), and Sustainable Smithsonian (institutional sustainability research).

CUSD's technology stack is project-specific and multi-disciplinary rather than unified: computer vision and behavioral ML algorithms in Aquaculture, thermal prediction models with calendar integration in Currents, materials science and coatings analysis in Solar Panel Reboot, biochar adsorption research in Soil Factory, modular architecture in Sustainable Mobility, and a circular-economy web application in ARC. The organization leverages Cornell-hosted infrastructure including Kenneth Post Laboratory (permanent tilapia monitoring setup), Upson Hall (HVAC pilot deployment), and faculty advisor relationships across multiple departments.

The organization is non-commercial. It generates no revenue, charges no fees to student members, and operates on volunteer labor with funding from Cornell resources and member contributions. Partner organizations — including the Smithsonian Institution, Downtown Ithaca Alliance, TCAT, United World Schools, Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, and Corning Inc. — receive project outputs (prototypes, research, design services) through collaborative arrangements rather than paid contracts. Recruitment runs on an annual cycle anchored at ClubFest in January, with applications, interviews, and onboarding completed by early spring.

Name

Cornell University Sustainable Design

Legal name

Sustainable Design at Cornell

Website

https://cusd.cornell.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD) is a non-commercial, student-run interdisciplinary project team founded in 2009 that executes sustainability engineering projects across aquaculture, HVAC, solar, biochar, transit, and education through ten sub-teams serving Cornell students, the Ithaca community, and external partners such as the Smithsonian.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Education and Project Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Student Organizations & Club Administration (EDALAHAB)

Keywords

• Sustainability project services
• Interdisciplinary engineering design
• Student-led sustainability research
• Sustainable infrastructure design
• Environmental technology prototyping

Headquarters

HQ city

Ithaca

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Student Organization (Non-Commercial): CUSD is a registered student organization of Cornell University. It does not generate commercial revenue. Operations are funded through Cornell resources and potentially member contributions. The organization provides educational value and hands-on learning opportunities to Cornell students at no cost.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD) is a student-run, interdisciplinary project team at Cornell University that organizes students from all seven colleges into sub-teams to design, prototype, and deploy sustainability-focused projects. The organization delivers hands-on project work in areas including aquaculture computer vision systems, calendar-driven HVAC optimization, biochar soil amendments, solar PV refurbishment, urban revitalization, transit shelter design, school infrastructure for underserved regions, and institutional sustainability research. Activities are delivered at no cost to student members and as collaborative partnerships with external organizations.

Product overview

Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD) is a student-run interdisciplinary project team (not a commercial company) offering multiple sustainability-focused project teams rather than a unified commercial product. The portfolio consists of ten sub-teams/projects including Aquaculture (computer vision fish monitoring), ARC/Swapp (campus circular economy app), Currents (AI-powered HVAC optimization), MarComm (communications), Soil Factory (biochar circular agriculture), Solar Panel Reboot (solar PV research), Sustainable City (community revitalization), Sustainable Mobility (transit infrastructure), Sustainable Education (school infrastructure design), and Sustainable Smithsonian (institutional sustainability research). These are student projects with real-world impact rather than marketed products or services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Aquaculture: Computational sustainability in fish feeding systems using computer vision and behavioral tracking software
• ARC (Alternative Recycling Cornell)
• Currents
• MarComm
• Soil Factory
• Solar Panel Reboot
• Sustainable City
• Sustainable Mobility
• Sustainable Education
• Sustainable Smithsonian

Products and services

• Aquaculture Project service that develops an open-source aquaponics system for coastal communities, using computer vision and machine learning to detect fish hunger cues in real time and operate an automated feeder. Targets educational and economic empowerment within coastal communities through profitable, ecologically sustainable fish farming.
• ARC (Alternative Recycling Cornell) Campus circular economy service that empowers Cornell students to reduce personal and institutional waste through applications and websites, including the Swapp app that enables students to list, buy, and exchange pre-loved items with identity verification and accountability features.
• Currents Building energy management service that connects user calendars to building HVAC systems, applying thermal prediction models and machine learning to optimize heating and cooling schedules based on predicted room occupancy. Designed for deployment in campus and commercial building environments.
• Soil Factory Circular bionutrient economy service that uses biochar with high surface area to capture nutrients from agricultural and human waste products, creating nutrient-dense soil amendments and researching methods to adsorb nitrogen and phosphorus from dairy barns.
• Solar Panel Reboot Solar energy research and refurbishment service that develops protective coatings, an indoor solar simulator using LED rods and halogen lamps with reflective Mylar achieving approximately uniform 360 W/m² irradiance, and solar-powered infrastructure such as a solar-powered outdoor restroom for the Cornell and Ithaca community.
• Sustainable City Community revitalization service partnering with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and city government on the Waterfront Heritage Trail design, Commons branding, 360-degree Street View capture for Google Maps, and streetscape improvements for downtown Ithaca.
• Sustainable Mobility Transit infrastructure design service that develops modular, catenary vault bus shelter designs composed of identical interlocking pieces for ease of manufacture, featuring live transit information display capability, partnered with TCAT and the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport.
• Sustainable Education

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ projects across 10+ subteams operating simultaneously
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Dr. Eugene Won's LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTilapia research partnership providing fish specimens and research guidance for the Aquaculture team's computer vision and behavioral tracking system development. The lab provides access to live fish for algorithm development and feeder testing.
• Kenneth Post LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornell research facility housing the permanent remote monitoring setup for the Aquaculture team's tilapia studies. Provides laboratory space and equipment access for fish behavior research.
• Upson Hall FacilitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConfirmed pilot deployment location for the Currents HVAC optimization system. Provides building management system access and real-world testing environment for the calendar-based temperature prediction system.
• Dr. Rebecca NelsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaculty advisor and research collaborator for the Soil Factory team. Provides guidance on biochar research and design of vertical drying rack systems for the Nelson Lab's acid/base biochar drying system.
• Corning Inc.majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry partner for the Solar Panel Reboot team's coating analysis project. Collaboration involves analyzing hydrophobic vs. hydrophilic coatings on glass slides to simulate soiling conditions from Snyder Road Solar Farms.
• Energy and the Environment Research Lab (EERL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch lab under Professor K. Max Zhang at Cornell. Potential external stakeholder for the Solar Panel Reboot team's indoor simulator improvements and future solar energy research collaboration.
• CogenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner associated with solar oven patent. Potential future collaboration on solar technology development and simulator use for SPR and external stakeholders.
• Downtown Ithaca AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York State-chartered 501(c)(3) charged with downtown Ithaca revitalization. Primary external partner for the Sustainable City team, collaborating on Waterfront Heritage Trail, Commons Revitalization, and downtown improvement projects.
• City of Ithaca Engineering DepartmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity government partner for the Sustainable City team's urban revitalization projects. Collaborates on heritage trail design, streetscape improvements, and infrastructure planning for downtown Ithaca.
• Tompkins County Chamber of CommerceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional business organization partnering with the Sustainable City team on downtown Ithaca economic development initiatives and stakeholder coordination.
• TCAT (Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic transit authority for Tompkins County. Primary partner for the Sustainable Mobility team's next-generation bus shelter design with live transit information display capabilities.
• Ithaca Tompkins Regional AirportmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional airport partnering with the Sustainable Mobility team. Shelter prototype was debuted publicly at the Ithaca Airport Gala on April 11, 2026.
• United World SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary project partner for the Sustainable Education team. CUSD designs and delivers primary and secondary school infrastructure in remote regions limited by geography, climate, and economic constraints, such as the K-8 school in Humla, Nepal.
• Smithsonian InstitutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with the Smithsonian Institution for sustainability research and outreach. Past work spans plastic reduction, zero-waste event planning, green building certifications, and carbon sequestration. Current projects include AI environmental impact research and sustainability communications.
• Smithsonian Astrophysical ObservatorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch division of the Smithsonian working with the Sustainable Smithsonian team. Natascha Finnerty serves as contact; collaboration includes SAO Sustainability Group employee sustainability initiatives.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Net Impact: Student-led professional network focused on sustainability and social impact careers. Comparable to CUSD in its university-chapter structure, sustainability focus, and emphasis on real-world project work plus career pipeline development.
• Engineers for a Sustainable World: Student and professional chapter network dedicated to sustainability engineering projects. Directly comparable to CUSD's mission of interdisciplinary, hands-on sustainability work through university chapters.
• Cornell Hyperloop: Sibling student engineering project team at Cornell University with the same multi-subteam structure, faculty advisor model, and corporate partnership approach as CUSD, but focused on transportation technology rather than sustainability.
• Design for America: University-based studio network where students tackle local social challenges through design. Comparable to CUSD in its interdisciplinary, project-based, real-world impact model anchored at university campuses.
• Engineers Without Borders USA: Student-chapter-based nonprofit running engineering and sustainability projects in underserved communities. Closest structural parallel to CUSD's student-led, project-based model delivering real-world sustainability outcomes across multiple domains.

Others

• AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education): Higher-education association supporting campus sustainability programs and student engagement. Operates at the institutional/association level rather than running direct projects like CUSD, but addresses the same broader ecosystem.
• Ashoka U: Network for social innovation in higher education that supports university-based changemaker programs. Thematically related to CUSD's mission but operates as an enabling network rather than running direct projects.
• U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon: DOE-run university competition for net-zero solar housing design. Related to CUSD's Solar Panel Reboot and Sustainable City work but is a competition framework rather than a peer organization.

Broad incumbents

• MIT D-Lab: MIT-based sustainability and development research lab working on energy, water, agriculture, and housing challenges in low-resource contexts. Comparable to CUSD in domain breadth but operates as a faculty-led research lab rather than student project team.
• Stanford d.school: Stanford's design-thinking program that trains students on interdisciplinary, real-world projects with social impact. Comparable to CUSD's interdisciplinary project-based learning model but operates within a formal academic program with faculty leadership.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CUSD
• Facebookfacebook.com/CUSustainableDesign/?fref=ts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cornellusd
• Instagraminstagram.com/cusustainabledesign/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Cornell University Sustainable Design