Butte College Wins EPA Award for Green Power
Butte College (CA) has received a Green Power Leadership Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for on-site generation of renewable energy. Butte was the only education institution recognized by the EPA. The College produces 39 percent of its electricity needs through solar arrays. Butte's current solar-power capacity includes 1.916 MW.
New York Institute of Technology Unveils Solar Car Port
The New York Institute of Technology, with the help of federal grant money, has opened the first of two solar car ports on its campus. Part of NYIT's "One Spot, One Car, One Commute" solar plug-in hybrid electric vehicle project, the freestanding, four-car carport prototype has solar panels integrated into its structure. The carport shades parked vehicles while collecting energy from the sun and converting it into power to charge plug-in hybrid vehicles. School officials expect that the energy produced from one car spot will be enough to power a solar plug-in hybrid electric vehicle for the average New York metro commute.
U Maryland Eastern Shore to Build 2.1 Mega Watt Solar Farm
The University of Maryland, Eastern Shore has announced plans to install a 20 acre solar farm that will produce 2.1 MW of energy. The University is partnering with SunEdison, a solar energy services provider that will finance, build, operate and maintain the system. University officials look at this job as both a way to offer an alternative energy and lower costs. Under the solar power service agreement, the solar plant will require no upfront capital investment by the University. Construction is scheduled to begin in early September with anticipated completion by the end of 2009.
Whitman College Installs 21kW Solar Array
Whitman College (WA) has installed a 21kW photovoltaic array on the roof of the Bratton Tennis Center. Whitman expects the new installation to replace approximately 20 percent of the building's annual energy use. Whitman’s environmental studies program will utilize the project in educational programming for students and community members, and a solar monitoring station will be established on the first floor of the Hall of Science, adjacent to a pre-existing weather, seismic and stream-monitoring station. A website will allow anyone to monitor the system’s output.
Bismarck State College Installs Wind Turbine
Bismarck State College (ND) has installed a 2.4 kW wind turbine on campus. The project will provide power to a maintenance building on campus. The turbine provides access for students enrolled at BSC's National Energy Center of Excellence to learn about wind as a renewable source of electricity generation. The renewable component will be integrated into existing energy program curriculum.
Eastfield College Unveils Solar Array
Eastfield College (TX) has unveiled its new, 4.4 kW solar array. The solar system is ground mounted and will be used as a teaching tool for the College. It is estimated that the array will save the college more than $100,000 in electricity costs over its 30-year lifetime.
California State U San Bernardino Installs Green Fitness Machines
California State University, San Bernardino has installed 20 elliptical fitness machines in the student recreation and fitness center that generate energy from exercise. Each machine generates about 100 watts of power per hour when in use and features a sign that explains that the machine generates energy that is converted to electricity. A digital banner on several television monitors also shows the generated electricity.
U Hawaii MÄnoa Unveils Solar Testbed
The University of Hawai'i, MÄnoa has installed a renewable energy demonstration and testing site on the roof of a campus building, Saunders Hall. The “Kumu Kit” solar panel system will provide an opportunity for students to study the potential of solar energy and test different technologies for turning sunlight into electricity. The first project for the testbed will evaluate micro-inverter technology that improves the efficiency of solar power arrays. The micro-inverters communicate real-time power production data from each solar panel to a central web site that archives historical data.
U New Mexico Unveils Veggie Bus
The University of New Mexico has unveiled its Veggie Bus, a shuttle powered by waste vegetable oil. The vehicle, which would have otherwise been retired, was overhauled to run on used oil that is collected from UNM dining facilities and converted to B-100 vegetable fuel.
Western State College to Install Biomass Boiler
Western State College of Colorado has announced plans to install a boiler system that relies on woody biomass for fuel. A local source does not currently exist for the wood chips necessary to fuel the system, so Western plans to produce its own.
Delaware Technical & CC Begins Energy Conservation Prgm
Delaware Technical and Community College has begun the "Energy Rangers" program, in which a group of approximately 50 volunteers ensures that classroom and office lights are turned off when classes end. Each volunteer, who is also in charge of letting facilities staff know when a building's heating and cooling system is not working properly, adopts a corridor or bank of offices in a campus building.
Drury U Installs 4 KW Solar System on Res Hall
Drury University (MO) has installed a solar system on a campus residence hall. The new system will be used to create electricity and to heat water. The solar thermal portion of the system will pre-heat water to between 80 and 120 degrees before it is transferred into the hot water tank where it will be heated to 140 degrees. When operating at maximum capacity the system will produce four kilowatts of energy.
Marin College Installs Solar Panels and Geothermal System
Marin College (CA) has installed 16, 30-foot by 30-foot photovoltaic shared structures and a 40-foot-deep geothermal system. The solar structure will provide an estimated 50 percent of the energy needed to operate the newly renovated physical education building, which will open this winter. The geothermal system is expected to pay for itself in five years through reduced energy costs. The two new installations were funded by a bond measure passed by Marin County voters that allocated $249.5 million for upgrades and retrofits at the college. The funds will also be used to construct a new fine arts building and a science and math building, both of which will seek a U.S. Green Building Council LEED rating.
U California, San Diego Installs Sun-Tracking Solar Panels
The University of California, San Diego has installed solar panels that automatically track the sun as it crosses the daytime sky and concentrate sunlight onto hundreds of electricity-producing solar cells, each smaller than a shirt button. The 220-square-foot, 5.75 kW concentrating photovoltaic panel is mounted on a movable platform atop a metal pole and has an average efficiency of nearly twice that of conventional photovoltaic technology.
U North Alabama Receives Green Campus Initiative Funding
The University of North Alabama has received $951,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy for phase two of the University’s Green Campus Initiative, an effort to make UNA facilities as energy-efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. UNA’s Green Campus Initiative projects are designed to promote greater efficiencies of energy usage, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and recycling of appropriate items. Phase one of the initiative includes the current renovation of Keller Hall. The Keller renovation features solar panels, new windows, and a new heating and air system.
U North Carolina Implements Energy Policy
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has implemented a new campus-wide energy policy that aims to decrease energy use by reducing the amount of air conditioning and heating used in buildings. The temperature set points will be between 76 and 78 degrees during the summer and between 69 and 71 degrees during the winter. Most buildings will be programmed to relax these settings (to between 64 and 83 degrees) when buildings typically are unoccupied or have low occupancy. The University expects a savings of between $4 and $5 million per year in energy costs.
U North Carolina Launches U.S. Energy Use Website
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched “Powering a Nation,” an experimental multimedia news website that explores U.S. energy use and its relationship to the country’s demographics. Ten Carolina journalism students selected as News21 fellows have been working since January with faculty – joined by two students from Harvard University (MA) and the University of Missouri – to produce stories about wind farms, the electrical grid, mountaintop removal, coal activists, biofuels, religious response to environmental issues, and other topics. The stories are presented as feature articles, multimedia documentaries, motion graphics, blog posts, and games.
Arizona State U Installs LEDs in Parking Structures
Arizona State University has retrofitted six parking structures on the Tempe campus with new light- emitting diode (LED) fixtures. The project will afford ASU with an annual savings of up to $127,000 in energy and maintenance costs.
Durham College Installs Solar Array
Durham College (ON) has installed a $500,000 grid-tied photovoltaic system. The new solar power system is part of a 40,000-square-foot expansion and upgrade of the College’s Whitby campus that is designed to increase energy efficiency and energy production while supporting a range of energy-focused programs and learning facilities.
Harvard U to Install 500 kW Solar Array
Harvard University (MA) has announced plans to install a 500 kW solar array on the top of one of its campus buildings. The array, which is expected to reach nearly 2 ½ football fields in length, is being funded in part by a $1.08 million grant from the state’s Commonwealth Solar rebate program, which aims to increase the amount of renewable energy generated by photovoltaic technology in Massachusetts.
Keene State College Installs Co-Gen Plant
Keene State College (NH) has installed a co-generation heat plant that is expected to reduce energy costs by more than $120,000 a year and to reduce greenhouse gases caused by campus electrical consumption by more than 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. The new facility features two new boilers that have high-efficiency burners that increase steam output with almost no waste; a control system that regulates the boilers for maximum output; and the ability to allow steam to provide heat and turn a turbine that will generate up to 12 percent of the campus's electricity.
U Akron Installs Energy Efficient Stadium Lighting
The University of Akron (OH) has installed five energy efficient light masts around its football stadium. The new installations will use as much as 25 percent less energy than traditional stadium lighting.
Colorado State U to Install Solar Power Plant
Colorado State University has announced plans to install a 2 MW solar power plant on its Foothills Campus. The 15 acre solar array will generate enough solar power to meet more than 10 percent of the University’s electric energy needs. In exchange for hosting the solar panels, Colorado State has secured a 20-year contract for solar power to keep costs low.
Drexel U Adopts Smart Grid Technology
Drexel University (PA) has deployed an energy monitoring system on its main campus. The system will provide real-time measurements of Drexel's power usage and eventually allow the University to sell energy back to the larger public grid. Using real-time pricing technology, the system will also allow the University to purchase power at times of the day when demand is low and sell excess power back to the larger power grid. The Power Resources Department at Drexel’s College of Engineering will use the campus smart grid as a working laboratory to advance its study of urban power systems.
Florida State U Partners to Build 5 MW Solar Thermal Plant
Florida State University has announced plans to build a 5 MW power plant that uses solar thermal energy and biomass to generate electricity. The plant will use thermal aluminum panels that capture and store heat and will use biomass to make up for hours of the day when the sun isn't out. Construction is set to start in the fall and is expected to be completed in 18 months.
U Iowa 15th in Nation for On-site Green Power
The University of Iowa has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the Top 20 On-site Green Power Users, with a rank of 15th in the nation. As the only college campus on this list, the UI has an on-site power plant that uses oat hulls to generate nearly 9 million kilowatt-hours of biomass power annually, equivalent to 3 percent of its electricity use.
College of Charleston Releases Campus Sustainability Video
The College of Charleston (SC) has created a video about sustainability on the Charleston campus. The video aims to teach students about sustainability and how they can reduce their energy consumption on campus and to encourage students to take action to make the College more sustainable.
Colorado College Saves $100K in Energy Costs
Colorado College has announced that it saved nearly $100,000 during its 14 week "aCClimate14" conservation campaign during the spring semester. The "aCClimate14" effort was a campus-wide resource conservation campaign designed to achieve a 14 percent reduction in electricity, heat, and water use through behavioral change. Each of the 14 weeks in the semester focused on different daily habits such as computing, bathing, transportation, and studying. The campaign included various communal tools to encourage behavioral shifts, including drying racks, outdoor recycling receptacles, shower timers, and plug-in electric meters.
Penn State Approves Energy Conservation Policy
Pennsylvania State University has announced plans to release a new energy conservation policy this fall. The policy, which has been approved by the University, includes guidelines such as making ''every effort'' to maintain the temperature inside facilities at 70 degrees in winter, and turning off or putting in ''standby mode'' any office equipment not in use ''unless it is detrimental to the operation of the equipment to do so.'
U New Mexico-Taos Goes 100% Solar
The University of New Mexico-Taos has announced that its 3 ½ acre, 500 kW solar array, which is expected to be complete by the end of July 2009, will provide the University with more than 100 percent of its electricity needs. UNM Taos officials believe that the community college is the first in the nation to be completely powered by solar energy.
Shasta College to Install Solar Panels at Campus Farm
Shasta College (CA) has signed a contract to fill a 250 yard by 100 yard rectangle with solar panels, and the campus farm has been selected as the preferred site. Shasta estimates that the new installation could reduce its electricity costs by as much as 40 percent.
Smith College Reduces Emisisons 31 Percent
Smith College (MA) has announced that it reduced its emissions by 31 percent between 2004 and 2008. The College has attributed the decrease to ongoing efficiency upgrades to campus buildings and infrastructure and to its conversion from burning mostly oil to natural gas in the central heating plant.
U Kansas Generates Energy from Student Workouts
The University of Kansas has retrofitted 15 elliptical machines with devices that draw on kinetic energy created by people's workouts and reroute that energy back into the building's electric grid. The energy produced from the workout machines will be used to help power the David A. Ambler Student Recreation Center.
Appalachian State U Installs 100 kW Wind Turbine
Appalachian State University (NC) has announced the completion of a 100 kW wind turbine located on campus. Officials believe it is the largest wind turbine in the state of North Carolina. The $533,000 project was funded by Appalachian students through a $5 Renewable Energy Initiative fee collected each semester.
St. Olaf College Awarded for Energy Efficiency
St. Olaf College (MN) has been named Xcel Energy's Number 2 "Efficiency Partner" - one of 56 businesses the company honored recently for participating in Xcel's 2008 efficiency programs. St. Olaf was noted in the "Top 10" list for having saved 6.91 million kWh. St. Olaf also ranked No. 1 in natural gas efficiency, with 417,840 therms saved.
U Colorado at Colorado Springs Installs Solar Panels
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs has installed a solar system on the roof of its Science and Engineering building. The $107,000 system was funded with a grant from the Governor’s Energy Office, proceeds from a 2008 fee passed by UCCS students, and funds from Colorado Springs Utilities rebate program. The energy produced by the solar system will be displayed on a kiosk in the lobby of the building.
Colorado State U Installs Biomass Boiler
Colorado State University has partnered with the Colorado State Forest Service to install a biomass boiler heating plant on the Foothills Campus to reduce the university's greenhouse gas emissions and cut energy costs. The heating plant will burn wood chips rather than rely solely on natural gas to provide hot water for the Judson M. Harper Research Complex. The wood chips will be obtained from forest restoration and management efforts such as forest fire mitigation projects, which typically supply about 10 tons of wood chips per acre. CSU officials estimate that it will save approximately $60,000 in utility costs annual as a result of the new biomass boiler.
Colorado State U Installs Solar Panels
Colorado State University has installed photovoltaic cells on the roof of its Engineering Building. The 18.9-kilowatt solar array is expected to produce more than 25,000 kilowatt hours per year and will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the Engineering Building by 18.3 metric tons per year. The Governor's Energy Office provided $35,000 in matching funds for a PV project grant as part of the state's 2009 Solar Rebate Program.
Northern Michigan U Cancels Plans to Burn Coal
Northern Michigan University’s request to void the State of Michigan permit for its proposed cogeneration heating and steam plant has been granted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The permit, which was issued May 12, 2008, would have enabled NMU to burn coal as a backup fuel source in the proposed multi-fuel steam and heating plant. The primary fuel source was to be wood and wood byproducts. Construction on the cogeneration plant had not started, in part, due to a stay on the DEQ permit by the Sierra Club, which opposes the burning of coal. NMU is currently working on a permit application that would allow wood to be the sole fuel source.
Pomona College Students Outfit Trailer w/ Solar Panels
Students in a Farm and Gardens class at Pomona College (CA) have installed three 200-watt photovoltaic panels that charge six 12-volt batteries on a trailer. The outfitted trailer, known as the "rover," also features a charge controller that helps avoid battery overcharging and an inverter that converts the battery's DC current into AC. Students in the course planned and raised funds for the solar project, which will primarily be used at the campus farm. The trailer will also be available for campus events.
U Denver Raises A/C Temperature to Save Energy
The University of Denver (CO) has announced plans to cut back on air conditioning in an effort to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Facilities management expects to boost the temperatures in centrally controlled buildings by about four degrees to an average room temperature of 76 degrees.
U Illinois Urbana Champaign Reduces Energy by Almost 10%
The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign has reduced its energy by 9.6 percent and saved approximately $5 million over the last 10 months as a result of several energy upgrades. Renovations include a Lighting Retrofit Project, which entailed replacing more than 80,000 outdated fixtures and ballasts in the 44 buildings that use the most energy, and the installation of 250 occupancy sensors in classrooms. The University is currently undergoing a Retrocommissioning Project that aims to replace and repair HVAC and other building systems to improve energy efficiency. Programmable controls have already been installed in several older structures as part of the project.
Washington U St. Louis Installs Rooftop Wind Turbines
Washington University in St. Louis (MO) has begun a project to install seven wind turbines on top of a historic building on campus. The new turbines will provide energy for the 16 apartments that are contained within the structure.
Chronicle of Higher Ed Covers Trend of LED Lighting on Campus
The Chronicle of Higher Education has published an article on the trend of colleges and universities installing LED lighting. The article mentions Le Moyne College (NY), Georgia Institute of Technology, Marquette University (WI), Madison Area Technical College (WI), University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and North Carolina State University.
George Washington U Implements Several Green IT Initiatives
George Washington University's (DC) Information Systems and Services department has implemented several new initiatives to make its services more environmentally friendly. Such projects include the implementation of Lifecycle Refresh and GW documents, two programs that seek to lower energy costs. Lifecycle Refresh allows for new energy-efficient servers and data center systems that have greater computing power to replace older systems. One new machine can replace three to four old machines with no loss in performance. GWdocuments reduces the need for physical servers by consolidating administrative documents into a Documentum repository. The goal is to have all administrative documents in one central storage area, which lowers energy usage and makes information more accessible. GW is also in the process of launching a new data center, which will employ a number of energy efficient strategies. The data center is set to launch in early 2010.
Oberlin College Tractor to Run on Vegetable Oil
Oberlin College (OH) has converted its lawn-mowing tractor to run on vegetable oil. The tractor conversion will reduce the College’s consumption of fossil fuels by at least 700 gallons and eliminate more than 14,000 lbs of CO2 emissions. The fuel expenditure also will be reduced by about $1500 annually.
Syracuse U to Build Off-the-grid Data Center
Syracuse University, New York State, and IBM have entered into a multiyear agreement to build and operate a new computer data center on the University's campus that will incorporate advanced infrastructure and smarter computing technologies. The 6,000-square-foot data center will feature an on-site electrical co-generation system that will use natural gas-fueled microturbine engines to generate all electricity for the center and provide cooling for the computer servers, allowing the center to run completely off the grid. In addition, SU will conduct research and analysis of the data center's power and cooling technologies and develop models and simulation tools to monitor, estimate, plan, and control energy use to achieve the goal of reducing average data center energy use by 50 percent.
Virginia Tech Students Produce Biodiesel
A group of Virginia Tech students have produced more than 200 gallons of biodiesel as part of a senior design project for the department of mechanical engineering. The Virginia Tech Bio-Fuels group uses the B100 fuel, which is made from waste vegetable oil obtained from local restaurants, to run two pickup trucks.
Butte College Unveils Solar Arrays on Parking Structure
Butte College (CA) has installed a solar array on one of its campus parking lots. The new array, which also provides shade for cars, will generate energy for seven buildings and four greenhouses. The College expects to save $8 million over the life of the array. This installation is the fifth solar project the College has embarked on in the last four years. Overall, 45 percent of the College's electricity needs are now met with solar power.
