Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.47
Liaison Sally DeLeon
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Maryland, College Park
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.73 / 4.00 Sally DeLeon
Acting Manager
Environmental Safety, Sustainability and Risk
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
2,741,529.42 MMBtu

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:
2,678.20 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
A 5.25 kW photovoltaic solar array was installed on the roof of the Cole Student Activities Building in 2009. A 6.97 kW photovoltaic solar array was installed on campus as part of Leaf House-- UMD's entry that won second place in the 2007 DOE Solar Decathlon-- in 2009. A 1.25 kW PV solar tracker was installed in front of the University of Maryland Energy Research Center in 2013. UMD retains the RECs from all three of these installations. A 631 kW photovoltaic solar array was installed on the roof of the Severn Building in 2011. UMD was selected as a Maryland Energy Administration Project Sunburst Initiative Partner and awarded a grant aimed at promoting the installation of renewable energy systems on public buildings in Maryland and the Severn Array was the result. WGL Energy (then WGES) financed the remainder of the Severn project cost and UMD purchases the electricity generated by the solar panels under a 20-year agreement with WGL Energy. Beginning in 2016 UMD began to retain the RECs from this project and the production included here reflects RECs that were retired from this PPA. RECs from this installation that were exchanged for National Green-e RECs are reported as part of the Option 4 total. Four new large solar arrays were installed on campus parking areas in 2017 and the RECs generated by each of these annually are reported as on site production since the university is receiving National Green-e certified RECs from these projects starting in year one and retiring them to reach its goal of 100% renewable purchased electricity (which does not include electricity generated at the university's on-site combined heat and power plant).

Option 2 

Non-electric renewable energy generated on-site, performance year:
0 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
---

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, performance year:
72,924.70 MMBtu

None
A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
In 2010, the University System of Maryland (USM) and the Department of General Services executed three (3), twenty year Power Purchase Agreements for renewable energy. The projects are: • 16 megawatt solar project at Mount St. Mary's University • 10 mega watt wind project in western Maryland • 55 megawatt wind project in West Virginia USM receives 1/3 of the output from each project. This equates to the University of Maryland receiving 15 percent of its purchased electricity from renewable sources. The Roth Rock Wind Farm (western Maryland), became operational in 2011, the Pinnacle Project-- also wind-- (West Virginia) and the solar project at Mount St. Mary’s Univeristy (Maryland) became operational in 2012.

Option 4 

Total third-party certified RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products (including renewable electricity purchased through a utility-provided certified green power option) purchased during the performance year:
421,965.50 MMBtu

A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
All third-party certified RECs are CleanSteps WINDPOWER sourced from WGL Energy with Green-e Certification, Tier 2 Maryland-Eligible Renewable Energy Credits sourced from WGL Energy, and Tier I Maryland-Eligible Renewable Energy Credits sourced from Ingenco. For more information on Maryland-Eligible RECs see the Maryland Public Service Commission's web page of Frequently Asked Questions about the Maryland Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Program at https://www.psc.state.md.us/electricity/maryland-renewable-energy-portfolio-standard-program-frequently-asked-questions/

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

 

Sierra magazine requests the following information from U.S. institutions that wish to share data with that organization:

Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
Percentage of total electricity use (0-100)
Biomass 2.11
Coal 1.50
Geothermal 0
Hydro 2.52
Natural gas 61.95
Nuclear 2.60
Solar photovoltaic 0.26
Wind 27.92
Other (please specify and explain below) 1.14

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Other is comprised mainly of unknown renewable sources (1.04% of total electricity consumption). Other also includes a very small component of oil and unaccounted for sources (0.09% of total electricity consumption).

Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass ---
Coal ---
Electricity ---
Fuel oil ---
Geothermal 0.20
Natural gas 99.80
Other (please specify and explain below) ---

A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
---

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
18.15

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.