Spotlight on Green Schools
Schools are focusing more and more heavily on cutting back on the energy they use and trying to reduce their impact on the environment. The articles on these pages spotlight individual campus energy conservation programs, energy initiatives, solar installations, energy-related technology, HVAC, research, grants, policy, and other topics related to green campuses.
Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA has completed two solar systems that will save the school as much as $1.6 million over the next 20 years.
Miami University in Oxford, OH has adopted a tool designed to help reduce engine idling for campus service vehicles in order to reduce emissions.
Now nearly a year old, Colorado State University's 5.3-megawatt solar plant is currently providing about a third of the electricity needs for the institution's Foothills campus. CSU's Carol Dollard discussed the planning and implementation of the plant--one of the largest for an American university--with Campus Technology's Bridget McCrea.
Santa Clara University (SCU) has established a private online ridesharing network to help students, faculty, and staff share commutes or one-time road trips.
Two Vermont schools are pushing forward on commitments to reduce campus energy consumption.
Cornell University plans to use geothermal and solar power to build the fourth largest net-zero energy building as the centerpiece for its proposed New York City Tech campus on Roosevelt Island.
The University of North Texas has been doing $8.6 million worth of energy improvements in its Health Science Center.
The Sustainable Endowments Institute, along with 15 partner organizations, has launched the Billion Dollar Green Challenge to encourage higher education and nonprofit institutions to invest a total of $1 billion in green revolving funds to finance energy efficiency improvements.
Kyocera and Independent Energy Solutions have completed a 355.9-kilowatt solar photovoltaic solar installation at San Diego State University.
Researchers at Oregon's Portland State University are trying to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic solar panels and green roofs by combining the two.
NRG Energy, Inc. will partner with the University of Delaware to launch the eV2g program to commercialize vehicle-to-grid technology.
California State Polytechnic University has chosen Aircuity's OptiNet system to help improve indoor air efficiency and decrease energy costs in its biotechnology building.
A couple of computer scientists--one from Johns Hopkins University and the other at the University of Alabama at Birmingham--have looked to the science of waste management for guidance on what to do with unwanted or unused data from the digital world.
Arizona State University has surpassed 10 megawatts of solar energy capacity with multiple installations on two of its four campuses.
New York's New School has earned a Silver rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating system (STARS).