Energy Savings


Campus Sustainability

SoCal School District to Install 21 Solar Canopies

The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) in Long Beach, Calif., has announced that it will add solar canopies in 21 schools in an effort to meet sustainability goals. The solar canopy systems will be owned and operated by Standard Solar, Inc., a nationally recognized community solar assets solutions company.

Campus Sustainability

Rice U Holistic Garden Sees Sustainability Upgrades

At Rice University in Houston, Texas, the Betty and Jacob Friedman Holistic Garden recently received a solar upgrade and other improvements courtesy of the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club.

Fellows Hall at Williams College

A Home Away From Home: Fellows Hall at Williams College

Susquehanna University solar array sheep

Campus Sustainability

Sheep Help Maintain Solar Array at Pa. University

Susquehanna University’s solar array was built in 2018, just outside the city of Selinsgrove, Pa. And from April through November of each year, the university enlists help from an unconventional source to help keep the 14-acre site maintained.

Sustainability

Georgetown, ENGIE Partner to Promote Energy Conservation

Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C., recently announced a partnership with ENGIE North America to promote sustainability and energy conservation. ENGIE will manage the university’s utility system in an effort to help it achieve its sustainability goals.

Campus Energy

Stevens Institute of Tech to Fill All Electricity Needs from Renewable Sources

Stevens Institute of Technology has announced that it intends to fill all of its electricity needs from local renewable energy sources by October 2021.

Campus Sustainability

Ameresco, Holy Cross Energy Team Up for Solar Project on Colorado Campus

Clean technology integrator Ameresco, Inc. has announced a partnership with Holy Cross Energy to build a solar and battery energy storage project on land leased from the Spring Valley Campus of Colorado Mountain College, located in Glenwood Springs, Colo.

Pittsburg USD Electric School Bus

Sustainability

N. California District Cuts Electric Fleet Charging in Half

A school district in Northern California will be adding new infrastructure to bring down the cost of recharging its electric school bus fleet. Palermo Union Elementary School District has signed with AMPLY Power, which will supply energy management intended to reduce the cost to a dime per kilowatt hour versus 19 to 39 cents/kWh under the previous charging program.

Maine-Endwell School District Solar Energy

Campus Sustainability

NY District Covering All Electricity Needs with Solar

A New York school district is now generating all of its electricity needs through a 4.1-megawatt solar project. Maine-Endwell Central School District in Endwell activated its system, located on district property next to an elementary school, on March 23. It's expected to save the district more than $6.2 million in future energy costs over the course of 25 years.



Sustainability

Arkansas School Converts Utilities Savings to Teacher Raises

The Batesville School District in Batesville, Ark., isn’t the first school district to save money on utilities by switching to solar power. It may, however, be the among the first to pass those savings directly to teachers.

Floating Solar Farms

University Research

University Researchers Model Effects of Floating Solar Farms

Solar panel arrays that cover canals and other waterways—also known as floating solar farms—have become an increasingly intriguing possibility as sustainable energy practices gain momentum. Researchers from the University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland, and Lancaster University in Lancashire, England, have finished the first detailed model of floating solar installations’ environmental effects on the bodies of water they cover.

Colorado State University Lory Student Center

Energy

Colorado State Student Project Adds 114-Megawatt Solar Array

A student-driven initiative at Colorado State University has added almost 114 megawatt hours of clean electricity to the Fort Collins-based university's annual solar generation. The purchase of an 80-kilowatt, $100,000 photovoltaic solar array was funded almost entirely by student fees allocated through the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU), beginning in 2019.

Solar Energy

San Jacinto College Goes Solar

San Jacinto College, located in the metroplex area of Houston, Texas, has announced plans to add solar electricity arrays to two of its buildings. The arrays, designed and installed by Sunfinity Renewable Energy, are set to lower the school’s utility costs by millions and contribute to better air quality in the area.

Campus Sustainability

Merced College to Invest in Sustainability

California community college Merced College has partnered with Johnson Controls to upgrade the campus infrastructure and target deferred maintenance problems. In an effort to improve sustainability and the student experience on campus, Johnson is set to manage the design, procurement and installation of energy-efficient central plant and lighting retrofits, as well as upgrade campus building automation systems (BAS) and mechanical systems.

Wave energy testing facility

Energy

Oregon State University to Move Forward with Wave Energy Project

Federal energy regulators have given Oregon State University permission to move forward with PacWave South, an offshore wave energy testing facility.

Professor Randall Ellingson receives grant from U.S. Air Force

Solar Energy

U Toledo Developing Solar Sheets to Generate Power in Space

The University of Toledo just received a five-year, $12.5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force to develop flexible solar cell sheets for space. The photovoltaic energy sheets will be used to collect solar energy for powering Earth-based receivers or other orbital or aerial instrumentation, such as communications satellites.

School bus

Transportation

California School District to Install Charging Stations

The Porterville Unified School District (PUSD), located in Tulare County, California, recently placed an order for six new electric school buses. During its Board of Education meeting on Jan. 28, the district also approved plans to install six new electric charging stations.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville Solar Array

Energy

UW-Platteville to Build 2.4MW Solar Array

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville has received approval from the state to erect a 2.4-megawatt solar array on its campus. According to the university, this will be the largest solar array owned by a Wisconsin state agency and will make the campus the sixth-highest on-site producer of renewable energy in the country among institutions of higher education.

New Mexico State University solar project construction

University Construction

New Mexico State University Solar Project Begins Construction

Construction of a new solar project at New Mexico State University began this week. The university has partnered with El Paso Electric (EPE) on the initiative that they call Aggie Power, which should be sufficient to power about one-third of the 900-acre NMSU campus in Las Cruces.

U Richmond Offsets 100% of Electricity with Solar

Energy

U Richmond Offsets 100% of Electricity with Solar

A Virginia institution is the latest school to cover all of its electricity needs with a more sustainable source. The University of Richmond (UR) has joined campuses in Colorado, Hawaii and Minnesota to match 100 percent of its electricity usage with solar power.

Schools In Focus podcast logo and Mike Wolf and Ron Wendorski

Podcast

Schools In Focus: Indoor Air Quality

Universities Get $7.36M Navy Grant to Study Energy Generation and Storage for Microgrids

Two universities are working together to figure out how to make energy generation, storage and system operation more efficient and reliable, especially in "microgrid" settings.

Energy

Wesleyan Pipe Conversion Project Anticipates Dramatic Energy Reduction

A $5.8 million sustainability project to convert steam plumbing to hot water plumbing recently completed the first of eight phases at Wesleyan University.

Energy

Georgetown U Buys Into Local Solar

Georgetown University has taken the next step in its commitment to sustainability by committing to obtaining two-thirds of its total electricity consumption directly from "local" solar farms in Maryland and New Jersey.

Sustainability

Colorado State Signs for Solar Installation

Colorado State University signed a deal that will move the Fort Collins institution closer to its goal of shifting all of its energy needs to renewable electricity by 2030.

College of the Redwoods

Sustainability

College of the Redwoods Approves Solar Deal

A community college in northern California has projected a savings of $4.2 million over the next 20 years from an implementation of solar.

Greta Thunberg speaking at a climate change protest in Rome.

Sustainability

Aspiration to Action: Gen Z’s Call for Change

Gen Z is advocating for immediate action to secure their future. However, limited by their age, Gen Z is looking to older generations to support them through social and legislative change and conscientious transformations — socially, educationally, and within the built-environment.

Sustainability

LA Community Colleges Vows to Eliminate Carbon Footprint by 2040

The Los Angeles Community College District has vowed to eliminate its carbon footprint entirely over the next two decades.