George Washington University
OP-8: Clean and Renewable Energy

The university has several signs that are lighted at night using solar energy collected and stored during the day, that are not counted in the figures in this section. A photovoltaic panel array above a walkway, known as the Solar Walk, is now in use between two buildings at the Virginia Science and Technology Campus. However, the metering equipment on this PV array was not reliable until late in the fiscal year 2013 so these figures were excluded from those shown above.

The university installed its first solar hot water system in March 2011 on a residence hall at 2031 F St. During the summer of 2011 the university installed two more solar hot water heating systems on residence halls at 1959 E St and Ivory Tower. Production from all three of these systems is included in the fiscal year 2013 figures shown above.

The university purchased some RECs from local and/or nationwide wind energy farms.

RECs were purchased as a component of LEED certification for several new construction projects. A few RECs were also donated by an energy supplier.

None are in use at this time but construction has begun on a new unit on the Foggy Bottom Campus that is expected to start-up in late 2014.

With the main campus located in a dense urban area, on-site clean energy generation and carbon sequestration options are limited. However, GW is committed to leveraging its urban campuses in the District of Columbia and its Northern Virginia campus to pilot innovative green energy generation and sequestration options that can help reduce carbon emissions, both for the university directly and for its community. New discoveries, equipment and systems for green energy and carbon sequestration are emerging at a rapid pace, but require testing and improvements. The university is using its campuses as testing grounds for new technologies and integrate the performance of these options into learning and research opportunities for students and faculty as appropriate. As part of this innovation strategy GW targets a 1,000 MTCO2e reduction in its emissions by 2025 through use of on-campus clean energy sources. Additionally, the university aims to produce 10 percent of its energy needs through on-site low-carbon technologies by 2040. Many contributors to the GW carbon footprint are out of the university’s direct control. As a single player in a complex system GW realizes it cannot reach carbon neutrality independently or in isolation of other entities affecting carbon emissions for the D.C. area. The university is forging partnerships with other institutions in the Washington, D.C. community to both achieve GW’s own targets and assist the region in reducing its carbon emissions as well. The university is working with partners to decrease the carbon intensity of the its electricity fuel mix.