Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.01
Liaison Paul Mathisen
Submission Date May 23, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.01 / 4.00 Liz Tomaszewski
Facilities Systems Manager/Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Department
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
248,186 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:
0 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
na

Option 2 

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

None
A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
50 solar thermal panels on the roof of the Sports and Recreation Center help maintain water temperature in the pool. These panels heat a closed, fluid-filled circuit of piping that connects to a heat exchanger. When the sun is shining, the fluid in the solar thermal system is heated and flows continuously through the heat exchanger. On average, the solar panel system provides ~42% of the annual pool water heating. The number listed is an estimate of the BTUs.

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:
Through an innovative program called virtual net metering, WPI is supporting the installation of new solar panel arrays at Treasure Valley Scout Reservation in Rutland and at two other locations, increasing the amount of clean electricity flowing to customers in Central Massachusetts.

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:
0 MMBtu

A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
---

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.wpi.edu/about/sustainability/conservation.html

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 2.06
Coal 4.05
Geothermal 0
Hydro 6.09
Natural gas 38.60
Nuclear 28.54
Solar photovoltaic 1.11
Wind 1.99
Other (please specify and explain below) 17.56

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Other sources include Diesel (1.48%), Digester Gas (0.03%), Efficient Resource Co-Gen (0.41%), Fuel Cell (0.18%), Jet (0.01%), Landfill Gas (0.56%), Municipal Solid Waste (1.07%), Oil (10.17%), Trash to Energy (2.02%), Wood (1.61%)

Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass 0
Coal 0
Electricity 3
Fuel oil 0
Geothermal 0
Natural gas 97
Other (please specify and explain below) 0

A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
The Power plant uses heating oil as a backup for natural gas, but hasn’t used substantial amounts of oil since 2007. Oil heating is tested every year, which makes up less than 0.05% of total heating.

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
0.13

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.