Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Penn State Meets Sustainability Goals

  • 10/01/18
Penn State

Penn State campuses use GEM vehicles to achieve sustainability.

As sustainability initiatives on college campuses continue to evolve, vehicles with sustainable power sources, street-legal status, and small vehicle footprints provide a flexible solution to meet campus transportation and maintenance needs. Pennsylvania State University is no exception. Across its vast campus, Penn State relies on GEM to transport passengers, haul equipment, and assist with landscape management.

According to Bruce Cifelli, Penn State’s equipment management and services administrator, finding an electric vehicle with long battery life was key. Anything less than eight hours a day simply wouldn’t provide enough range to get the job done. GEM’s array of battery options gave Penn State the ability to select a battery system that does just that, without wasting time to charge up.

Penn State needed a vehicle with features much more comparable to an automotive truck. GEM’s design flexibility enabled Penn State to pick and choose the extra features it required—truck-backs, flat beds, and ladder racks—to match a variety of different campus uses. While still street legal, GEM’s compact footprint allows users to easily maneuver where large trucks cannot.

In the business of campus maintenance, time is money. Vehicles must be at peak performance to maintain efficiency and get jobs done. Since adding GEM to their fleet of utility vehicles, Cifelli says his team has already noticed a difference in reliability, and downtime has been reduced. These time and cost savings go directly to the bottom line and give a lower total cost of ownership than trucks.

GEM is a testament to the practicality of a low speed, street legal, electric option. Its perfect mix of versatility and power helps Penn State achieve its sustainability goals, without increasing budget requirements or sacrificing productivity—all while ensuring campus is running smoothly.

gem.polaris.com

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management October 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Announces Acquisition of JJCA

    Wold Architects & Engineers, based in Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced that it has acquired JJCA, an architecture firm based in Nashville, Tenn., according to a press release. JJCA specializes in healthcare and education design; the partnership allows both firms to expand their presence across the country while building on existing strengths.

  • Fargo, N.D., Starts Construction on Consolidated Elementary School

    Fargo Public Schools in Fargo, N.D., recently announced the beginning of construction on a new elementary school, according to a news release. The district partnered with ICON Architectural Group and Kraus-Anderson Construction on the new Horace Mann Elementary School.

  • Embry-Riddle Completes Construction on Research, Lab Facility

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Fla., recently announced the end of construction on a new research and lab facility on campus. The Center for Aerospace Engineering II (CAT II) will support aerospace research and technology development and broke ground last summer.

  • Ohio State University Opens 26-Story Hospital

    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center recently opened in Columbus, Ohio, standing 26 stories and covering 1.9 million square feet, according to a university news release. The project marks ten years of effort and is the university’s largest single-facility construction project ever.