Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 59.16
Liaison Rebecca Walker
Submission Date Feb. 6, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Southern Oregon University
OP-8: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.69 / 7.00 Roxane Beigel-Coryell
Sustainability & Recycling Coordinator
Facilities Management & Planning
"---" 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 :
161.79 MMBtu

Option 2: Non-electric renewable energy generated:
0 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:
45,449.75 MMBtu

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

Total energy consumed during the performance year :
116,932.15 MMBtu

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

SOU has a 56 kW solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the Higher Education Center in Medford. The system consists of 319 Solarworld crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules (each with 175-watt maximum power) and a SatCon 50-kW inverter. The photovoltaic modules were installed in twenty-nine strings of eleven modules. The modules were installed at a 20-degree tilt on a rack system. The solar photovoltaic system was designed to meet the “Solar Electric System Requirements” developed by the Energy Trust of Oregon. The annual useful energy produced by the solar photovoltaic system is approximately 70,741 kilowatt-hours per year, and the STC rating is 55,825 watts.

SOU also has a 6kw solar array atop the Hannon Library on campus. The Hannon Array consists of 24 solar panels connected together to send its output direct current electricity through a power conversion device (inverter) that feeds directly into the City of Ashland's 3-phase power grid, at 220 volts AC. This system has been faithfully producing its peak 6 kw since installation. http://www.sou.edu/sustainable/librarysolararray.html


A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
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A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
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A brief description of RECs or other similar renewable energy products purchased during the previous year, including contract timeframes:

Through the student-initiated Green Fund, SOU purchases RECs to offset 100% of the electricity consumed on campus and carbon offsets to offset 100% of the natural gas consumed on campus from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The RECS and carbon offsets purchased by B-E-F for SOU are from Green-e Energy certified wind energy facilities located in North America. The carbon offsets purchased to offset the University's natural gas consumption are not accounted for in this credit.


A brief description of cogeneration technologies deployed:
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The website URL where information about the institution's renewable energy sources is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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.