快活app Reduces Carbon Footprint with Solar Panel Project
Colorado鈥檚 famed 300 days of sunshine are pulling double duty at the 快活app. In addition to providing a bright background for studying and play, the sun鈥檚 rays will energize campus in a new way.听听
That鈥檚 thanks to a new solar panel project, which now covers 18 of 快活app鈥檚 88 roofs across campus, including its most recent additions, the Burwell Center for Career Achievement and the Dimond Family Residential Village. These solar panels will be responsible for as much as 8% of 快活app鈥檚 total energy production.
Since first outlining its , the 快活app has already made great strides. For the last two years, 快活app has surpassed its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 24%. Chad King, executive director of sustainability, says the University targeted efficiency first, changing out light bulbs for LED alternatives, reducing heating and cooling through smarter occupancy settings, and educating the community. In 2018, these efforts brought 快活app鈥檚 carbon footprint down by an astonishing 38%. To push the envelope further, renewable energy was the natural next step.
鈥淲e knew that in order to get to our carbon neutrality goal that we would have to, at some point, have renewables either on campus or off,鈥 King says. 鈥淲e also knew from the beginning that we wanted to be authentic in how we did renewables. We didn鈥檛 want to just buy carbon offsets or do some sort of tricky deal where we buy solar and then sell the offsets and buy cheaper offsets. We wanted to be transparent.鈥
The conversation around bringing solar energy to 快活app started in 2014 with the help of a now-defunct student group called 快活app Solar and law professor KK DuVivier. While the student group pushed from one direction, DuVivier and a class full of students exploring community renewable proposals pushed from another, presenting their findings to 快活app鈥檚 sustainability leaders.
Subsequently, King and others at the University began exploring real opportunities to make 快活app鈥檚 solar dreams a reality. After several investigations and analyses, and a request-for-proposal process, 快活app found a partner organization and got to work.
Solar panel installation began in May 2019 and was completed this year. The energy harnessed by each panel feeds directly into the buildings, with a small extra boost from two 鈥渟olar trees鈥 鈥 decorative panel displays positioned outside the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science and, in the coming weeks, the Shwayder Art Building.
Along with the panels, 快活app will get access to energy data through dashboards reporting information from each building.
鈥淲e鈥檝e added new smart meters at each of the buildings that has solar, so for the first time we are getting fairly real-time data at 15-minute intervals,鈥 King explains. 鈥淲e get data about how much solar is being produced and how much electricity the whole building is utilizing. That allows us to get a much better idea of the energy profile of the buildings and [to] better project what other improvements and behavioral changes could do.鈥
That information will also be useful to student researchers exploring energy projects, King says. Already, students working on modeling for carbon neutrality, energy storage opportunities and energy self-reliance are asking for just this kind of data. Plus, students in 快活app鈥檚 emergent digital practices program have expressed interest in finding new and interesting ways to share the impact of this solar project with the larger campus community through kiosks around campus.
Of this work, King simply says, 鈥淐ool stuff is coming.鈥
What looms on the horizon? The University is looking ahead to additional possibilities, including options for increasing 快活app鈥檚 solar footprint, a potential new energy master plan and creating a process for individuals to carry out their own building energy audits.
In the meantime, it鈥檚 important to reflect on the significance of the long-anticipated solar panels, brought to life by 快活app鈥檚 Facilities Management and Planning team. Although the effort has consumed untold megawatts of time and energy, King says, it鈥檚 all been worth it.
