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.
Twenty teams of college students will congregate in a park in Irvine, CA to set up solar-powered houses to compete in the bi-annual Solar Decathlon, put on by the United States Department of Energy.
FundingFactory has launched an electronics waste recycling program for higher education. The program, CollectED, and pays institutions for certain recycled gear, like inkjet cartridges, tablets, and phones.
Lucid is introducing BuildingOS, an "online operating system" for buildings. The new service can pull data from 150 meter types and building systems, including utility meters, building and lighting controls, sub-meters, onsite generation feeds, and plug loads meters.
Appalachian State University has launched phase two of an energy efficiency initiative, turning its attention to energy use in lab and non-lab areas within three science buildings on its Boone, NC campus, in hopes of saving one million kilowatt-hours of energy each year.
Old Dominion University has entered a partnership to install 600 solar panels on the roof of the university's student recreation center at the heart of its Norfolk, VA, campus.
Power purchasing agreements allow universities to harness solar power without large capital outlays. Two schools share their insights about the benefits and how to set one up right.
Gone are the days when green campus initiatives were a balm to the soul and a drain on the wallet. Today's environmental initiatives are all about saving lots of green--in every sense of the word.
Hartnell College has embarked on a solar energy project expected to save the community college more than $11 million by improving energy efficiency and replacing 90 percent of its electricity use at its Alisal campus with solar power.
Georgetown University student solar initiative "Solar Street" has partnered the university with SolarCity to install 75 solar panels atop six university-owned townhouses on the Washington D.C. campus.
Tennessee Tech University and Chapman University have begun a contest to see which school can produce the most electricity for the power grid by using gym equipment installed at their schools.
A new array of solar panels installed at the University of Colorado at Boulder has doubled solar power production on campus, providing clean energy for research facilities and saving the campus about $50,000 a year in utility costs.
Texas State University, San Marcos is implementing new energy management software that automates the university's data entry and audit process and provides Web-based reporting and other tools.
A new solar energy project underway now at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology will save UH Manoa an estimated $2.3 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.
Texas State University-San Marcos will go live with a new energy management program this fall. The move is designed to improve reporting, benchmarking, and measurement while also speeding data entry and auditing.
Central Connecticut State University has installed a 1.4-megawatt fuel cell power plant that will reduce the school's energy costs by $100,000 per year.
