Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 81.81
Liaison Tonie Miyamoto
Submission Date Feb. 25, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Colorado State University
OP-8: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.07 / 7.00 Carol Dollard
Energy Engineer
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Option 1: Total clean and renewable electricity generated on site during the performance year and for which the institution retains or has retired the associated environmental attributes :
1,137 MMBtu

Option 2: Non-electric renewable energy generated:
3,445 MMBtu

Option 3: Total clean and renewable electricity generated by off-site projects that the institution catalyzed and for which the institution retains or has retired the associated environmental attributes :
0 MMBtu

Option 4: Total RECs and other similar renewable energy products that the institution purchased during the performance year that are Green-e certified or meet the Green-e standard's technical requirements and are third party verified:
31,765 MMBtu

Option 5: Total electricity generated with cogeneration technology using non-renewable fuel sources :
11,311 MMBtu

Total energy consumed during the performance year :
1,592,465 MMBtu

A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :

Colorado State University is home to 6 major photovoltaic arrays on campus. In total, these systems generate 237 KW annually.


A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:

A biomass boiler on CSU campus generates hot water and displaces natural gas use. This plant has a rating of 46 bhp.


A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:

A meterological tower was installed as the first phase to investigate the viability of installing wind turbines on a 3000 acre university owned site, 100 miles east of the main campus.


A brief description of RECs or other similar renewable energy products purchased during the previous year, including contract timeframes:

One year of REC s were purchased to off-set the electric use in common spaces at the residence halls and two years of electricity were purchased to off-set the use of two new LEED certified buildings on campus.

CSU also has a wind power purchasing program from the local municipality.


A brief description of cogeneration technologies deployed:

The Steam Turbine generates electricity from energy that was previously lost.


The website URL where information about the institution's renewable energy sources is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

CSU is the site host for 5,300kW (8.5M kWh/yr) solar plant on the foothills campus - one of the largest in the country and one of the largest associated with a college/university campus. The RECs were sold to the local utility in order to finance the plant. CSU will be able to claim the REC's in 2030.


CSU is the site host for 5,300kW (8.5M kWh/yr) solar plant on the foothills campus - one of the largest in the country and one of the largest associated with a college/university campus. The RECs were sold to the local utility in order to finance the plant. CSU will be able to claim the REC's in 2030.

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.