Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.76
Liaison Aurora Sharrard
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Pittsburgh
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.01 / 4.00 Richard Heller
Senior Electrical Engineer
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
1,604,687.80 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:
14.80 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
The University has installed six arrays of three panels each (4.32kW total) on the roof at the School of Engineering. The installation is primarily for teaching and research purposes, but generates a small amount of electricity that is used in the building.

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:
0 MMBtu

None
A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
---

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:
4,640 MMBtu

A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
Purchased renewable energy credits as follows: Green Mountain, wind energy, 3,617 MMBtu for two year purchase. Contract awarded 2/12/2014. Renewable Choice Energy, wind, solar, low-impact hydro, biomass, 1,023 MMBtu for two year purchase. Contract awarded 9/29/2015 Green Mountain Energy - 530,000 kWh (2-yr purchase February 2014 - Feb 2016) Renewable Choice Energy - 150,000 kWh (2-yr purchase Sept. 2015 - Sept. 2017)

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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 0.00
Coal 34.26
Geothermal 0
Hydro 1.04
Natural gas 26.31
Nuclear 34.70
Solar photovoltaic 0.13
Wind 2.23
Other (please specify and explain below) 1.34

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
The PJM fuel mix for the Pittsburgh area also includes 0.2% petroleum fuels, 0.75% waste-to-energy, 0.32% captured methane gas, 0.03% non-renewable fuel cell, and 0.03% other gas. In addition, a small amount (<1%) of electricity is generated on-site via solar photovoltaic arrays at one University building.

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

A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
Note: Most University of Pittsburgh facilities are heated by steam which is generated via two steam plants fueled by 100% natural gas. The plants are also capable of burning fuel oil, but only as a backup fuel source in case of emergencies. Buildings not heated by steam are heated by natural gas.

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
0.29

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.