U Southern California Student Petitions for Solar Energy
(U.S.): The university's Environmental Affairs Organization is aiming to bring solar panels to campus through their new initiative called the Go Solar Campaign. The organization, which cites other schools' solar success with smaller budgets, is drawing up a proposal for the administration that seeks to mitigate the financial burdens of solar power, such as a donor-based system or third-party power purchasing agreements.
Clarkson U to Complete a 2MW Solar Install
In an effort to stabilize the rising cost of electricity, the university will purchase electricity back from the 2-megawatt system currently under construction consuming 12-acres of land. The project is projected to avoid 2,100 tons carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere annually.
Elizabethtown College Awarded $500K for 2MW Solar System
The college was recently awarded a $500,000 Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) grant to install a 2-megawatt ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system and create opportunities for students and faculty members to study various aspects of solar energy.
Huston-Tillotson U Charges with Solar
The new solar charging station was retrofitted from a 1950s gas pump with solar panels for the campus community to use clean energy to recharge portable electronic devices.
U California Irvine to Add 3.2MW of Solar
Currently under construction, the 3.2-megawatt solar electric system atop three parking structures is part of a 25-year power purchase agreement allowing the university to pay a price below what would normally be paid to a utility. The project is expected to reduce campus carbon emissions by 1,500 metric tons per year.
Dickinson College Student Creates Solar Structure
Found in a warehouse with surplus desks and chairs by an environmental studies and economics double major, the four solar panels were constructed into a functioning solar array at one of the busiest thoroughfares on campus. Known as the Solar Outdoor Laboratory, the system, now an extension of the college's living laboratory, channels the electricity onto the grid.
U California Santa Barbara Connects 424kW Photovoltaic Array
Funded by students, who voted for the $3.4 million Student Affairs Renewable Energy Initiative to pass in 2011, the newly installed 424-kilowatt, solar electric system will help the university reach the University of California system-wide Carbon Neutrality Initiative, which seeks carbon neutrality by 2025.
U Nebraska-Lincoln Claims Wastewater Heat for Energy
Called the Centralized Renewable Energy System, the university is engaged with the city's adjacent wastewater treatment plant to convert heat from the discharge into usable energy for heating and cooling buildings.
West Chester U Pennsylvania Retires Coal Boiler Plant
The recently decommissioned coal-fired boiler plant was replaced by an efficient geothermal system for providing heat for half of campus that includes 440 wells. Currently the other half of the campus is heated and cooled by high-efficiency natural gas boilers.
Wesleyan U Expands Energy Saving Competition
The now campus-wide energy reduction competition encourages all residents to reduce their energy consumption and track it via JouleBug, a smartphone app. Two awards based on the app's data will be given to the resident with the highest energy reduction.
Colorado Mountain College Installs 30KW Solar System
(U.S.): A university partnership with Garfield County Libraries yielding two other solar installations has led to the library's largest photovoltaic installation to date, 29.9-kilowatts, and was installed by five university students and their professor studying photovoltaics.
George Washington U to Install Solar Thermal System
(U.S.): In step with the university's plan to reduce its carbon emissions 40 percent by 2025, the solar thermal system, to be completed on an upperclassmen residence hall in 2015, will save the university money by preheating water with the sun instead of using gas.
Skidmore College Celebrates Completion of Solar Array
(U.S.): Aiding in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the new photovoltaic system, with $2.3 million from the NY-Sun Initiative, is predicted to generate approximately 12 percent of the college's electricity needs.
Truckee Meadows CC & Colorado School of Mines Win Challenge
(U.S.): The Energy Department's National Geothermal Student Competition announced Truckee Meadows Community College as top finisher and the Geothermal Case Study Challenge winner went to Colorado School of Mines. The two competitions challenged college and university students to develop professional business solutions for public outreach as well as case studies that could help industry more accurately pinpoint geothermal resources in subsurface areas across the United States.
U Colorado Boulder Retrofits for Energy Savings
(U.S.): A nearly $11 million project, with an anticipated $573,000 in energy cost avoidance, will upgrade one of the campus' buildings with energy-efficient boilers, lighting and HVAC systems, and water conservation improvements.
U Michigan Reduces Energy Through Lab Sash Program
(U.S.): With nearly 800 campus labs, the new Shut the Sash awareness campaign, an initiative of the Sustainable Labs program, resulted in an estimated 10 percent energy reduction and avoidance of $1.5 million in energy costs.
Cornell U Opens Solar Farm
(U.S.): The university recently opened the Cornell Snyder Road Solar Farm with 6,778 photovoltaic panels that will produce 2.5 million kilowatts hours each year and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 650 metric tons toward the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
International Islamic U turns to Solar Energy
(Islambad): Through the installation of photovoltaic panels, the university will provide 10 megawatts of electricity to power the main campus, and will sell excess energy to increase revenue for the campus.
Syracuse U Purchases Green Power
(U.S.): The university has partnered with Renewable Choice Energy to provide green power, which will offset 35 percent of the campus’ total electricity consumption, an increase over previous years.
U Copenhagen Met Climate Goals from 2008
(Denmark): The university reached their goal to reduce carbon emissions originally set in 2008 through energy efficiency investments. The university announced that carbon-dioxide emissions are down 28.8% and energy consumption per student/employee is down 20.4% on 2006 levels. The university plans to set new sustainability goals to be released later this year.
U Glasgow Scientists Find Clean Energy Opportunity
(U.K.): University scientists recently reported a new production of removing hydrogen from water that could lead to an era of cheap, clean and renewable energy, according to the institution. This new production allows the hydrogen bond to be burned without a negative impact on the environment.
U Iowa to Use Grass for Biofuel
(U.S.): By 2020, the university wants to have 40 percent of its energy derived from renewable sources with efforts such as a reduction in the amount of coal burned through a new pilot program of burning a specific type of tall grass.
Three Institutions Support Expansion of Pittsburgh 2030 Program
This sustainable program recently expanded into Oakland, PA thanks to Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and others toward 50 percent reductions in energy consumption, water use and transportation emissions by the year 2030.
U Albany Launches Sustainability Campaign
New green initiatives at the university began recently including an effort to reduce electricity use around the campus, provide water through a water refill station to students and faculty and the implementation of a new ZipCar service.
Colorado State U Get Solar Panels
In order to increase solar energy, the university recently installed panels to increase the amount of sustainable energy 6,600 kilowatts with the ability to power approximately 1,200 homes to benefit the institution and the surrounding community.
Institutions Boost Sustainability Movement
U.S. News: Colleges and universities lead the charge to increase renewable energy efforts such as green residency buildings, clean energy courses and upgrades to promote fuel efficiency.
Yale U Introduces New Sustainability Initiatives
In order to boost clean energy efforts, the university plans to invest funds to improve energy consumption, introduce carbon pricing to meet climate change objectives, install solar panels, adopt third-party verification of our campus greenhouse gas inventory, green innovation fellowships and the re-evaluation of the current university Sustainability Strategic Plan.
Lane CC Identifies Energy Efficient Projects
The Energy Carryover Fund, the college’s green revolving fund, was created in 2006 with an allocation of $165,585 from surplus funds in the utilities budget to help the college meet their sustainability goals and formalize a process to identify energy efficiency projects. The fund averages 22.9 percent and has achieved a total of $113,087 in savings to date.
Princeton U Starts Light Efficiency Upgrade
As part of its Facilities Organization project, the university started to convert over 100,000 light fixtures to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs across the campus this past July, and is expected to be completed by December 2016 to contribute as much as a 15 percent reduction in carbon emissions as outlined by the Princeton Sustainability Plan to 1990 levels by 2020.
Triton College Installs Solar Panels
The college recently installed 54 panels to promote clean energy to supplement power to one of its buildings thanks to a grant from Illinois Green Economy Network and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
California CC Boosts Clean Energy Projects through Tax Benefits
(U.S.): Clean energy tax benefits have spurred infrastructure upgrades, green job training efforts, and 313 additional projects that promote sustainability. Cumulatively, these efforts are estimated to save $4.6 million annually and reduce energy use by the equivalent of 2.9 million gallons of gasoline.
U Queensland to Open Solar Research Facility
(Australia): In order to diversify its fuel source and become more environmentally friendly, the university plans to operate a 3.275-megawatt solar research facility on nearly 25-acres.
Colorado State U Adds Solar Panels to Buildings
Through a partnership with the City of Fort Collins and Namaste Solar, the university will see new solar panels installed this fall through early 2015 to increase clean energy supply and provide power to local homes and businesses, including buildings on the university’s campus.
EPA Releases Quarterly List of Top 30 Green Power Partners
The top 30 list represents the largest green power users among higher education institutions within the Green Power Partnership. The combined green power use of these organizations amounts to more than two billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity use of more than 192,000 average American homes annually.
Everglades U Expands Solar Energy Program [Video]
The university recently completed construction on its new solar energy teaching lab to teach students in construction, management and policy about renewable energy technologies’ potential impact on the future.
Lewis and Clark CC Raises Solar Panels
With funding from the Illinois Green Economy and students, the new solar panels are projected to produce approximately 17,000-kilowatts of electricity annually, contributing to the college’s 2058 carbon neutrality goal.
10 Chicago Institutions Commit to Reduce Energy Use
The ten schools that recently signed onto the Retrofit Chicago’s Commercial Buildings Initiative, which commits to a 20 percent energy reduction, are City Colleges of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Loyola University, Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, School of the Art Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Chicago.
Dartmouth College Purchases Energy Credits
Part of an ongoing $16 million grant to improve campus sustainability, the college’s newly installed windows and light fixtures and $50,000 of clean energy credits, equal to 7.3-million kilowatt-hours of energy, has helped the community earn recognition as a Green Power Community by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
U Texas Completes Solar Charging Stations
As part of its mission to support environmental-conscious campus initiatives, the university recently hooked up two new charging stations that convert solar energy into electricity and can charge up to six cell phones, laptops or electrical bikes at a time.
