| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.30 |
| Liaison | Stephen Ellis |
| Submission Date | May 31, 2024 |
Boston University
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.58 / 4.00 |
Stephen
Ellis Director, Data Analytics BU Sustainability |
Total energy consumption (electric and non-electric)
Clean and renewable energy sources
Clean and renewable electricity
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity from certified/verified clean and renewable sources (i.e., bundled green power purchases) | 194,081,158 Kilowatt-hours | 662,204.91 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, clean and renewable sources (rights retained/retired) | 0 Kilowatt-hours | 0 MMBtu |
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable electricity:
As a result of the BU Wind project, Boston University procures renewable electricity through a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ENGIE North America. The University receives and retires the associated ~205,000 MWh of Green-e Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to claim credit for the emissions reductions from the project. BU selected an unbuilt wind farm where its participation would enable construction, ensuring that the project has the critical criterion of additionality. The wind farm is located in South Dakota, where it will realize greater avoided emissions than a project in New England due to the larger percentage of green power already in the ISO-New England electrical grid. This one project reduces BU's carbon emissions by 53% and gets the university closer to the goal of carbon neutrality by 2040.
A brief description of the on-site renewable electricity generating facilities/devices:
The University currently has one photovoltaic demonstration project with seven panels on the roof of the Wheelock College for Education & Human Development building.
Clean and renewable thermal energy
| MMBtu | |
| Clean and renewable stationary fuels used on-site to generate thermal energy | 0 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water from certified/verified clean and renewable sources | 0 MMBtu |
A brief description of the clean and renewable stationary fuels:
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable thermal energy:
Unbundled renewable energy products
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Purchased RECs, GOs, I-RECs or equivalent unbundled renewable energy products certified by a third party | 0 Kilowatt-hours | 0 MMBtu |
A brief description of the unbundled renewable energy products:
Metrics used in scoring
Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
Optional Fields
Sierra magazine requests the following information from U.S. institutions that wish to share data with that organization:
| Percentage of total electricity use (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 1.80 |
| Coal | 0.20 |
| Geothermal | 0 |
| Hydro | 9.50 |
| Natural gas | 55 |
| Nuclear | 23 |
| Solar photovoltaic | 3.80 |
| Wind | 3 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 3.70 |
A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
The remaining sources include:
- Oil
- Price-Responsive Demand
- Other Fuel Types
- Renewables:
- Refuse (Waste-to-Energy)
- Landfill Gas
- Methane
- Steam
Source: https://www.iso-ne.com/about/key-stats/resource-mix
Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
| Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 0 |
| Coal | 0 |
| Electricity | 0 |
| Fuel oil | 2.60 |
| Geothermal | --- |
| Natural gas | 81.80 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 15.60 |
A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
We have buildings heated by steam on our medical campus. At the time of this submission, we were unable to get the fuel mix of the steam generated. URL: https://www.veolianorthamerica.com/who-we-serve/academia
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
This represents FY2023 BU Metrics.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.