Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.19
Liaison Ian Johnson
Submission Date July 14, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Colorado College
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.10 / 4.00 Michael Brubaker
Campus Operations & Plant Manger
Facilities Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
158,907.94 MMBtu

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:
1,984 MMBtu

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

Colorado College introduced its first on-campus renewable electricity project in spring of 2008. Its 22-kilowatt array was the largest solar electric system in the Colorado Springs Utilities service area at the time of permitting. During 2011/2012, CC purchased panels for the Worner Center (63,000 kWh) and in 2012/2013 for KRCC (3,240 kWh) and the Children's Center (25,200 kWh). In 2014, CC installed new solar arrays on the El Pomar Sports Center (278,000 kWh/yr), the Cornerstone Arts Center (164,600 kWh/yr), the Spencer Center (18 kW array), Synergy House (4.3 kW array), and the Dean's house (10.7 kW array). In 2015, CC installed a new solar array at the Baca Campus (31 kW array).


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

A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:

CC has a solar thermal array on the roof of the Worner Student Center.


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:
1,859 MMBtu

A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:

CC owns 200 kW in the Bradley Community Solar Array as part of the Clean Energy Collective. Additionally, CC owns 250 kW of the Colorado Springs Solar Garden.


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:
---

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

Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
Percentage of total electricity use (0-100)
Biomass ---
Coal 42.64
Geothermal ---
Hydro 9.19
Natural gas 44.39
Nuclear 0
Solar photovoltaic 0.50
Wind 0.42
Other (please specify and explain below) 2.85

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:

2.85% of CC's electricity is sourced from what Colorado Springs Utilities refers to as "mixed market". It is a make up of the company's day-to-day purchases of resources intended to balance its electric system. It does not consist of wind, hydro or solar but does include natural gas purchases and electric purchases from neighboring suppliers to provide daily balance.


Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass ---
Coal ---
Electricity ---
Fuel oil 0.01
Geothermal ---
Natural gas 99.99
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:
2.50

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Source Option 1: Calculated from the Cornerstone, El Pomar, and Synergy PV arrays.

Source Option 3: Calculated from 2 months of the Clean Energy Collective Solar Array and Sunshare Array


Source Option 1: Calculated from the Cornerstone, El Pomar, and Synergy PV arrays.

Source Option 3: Calculated from 2 months of the Clean Energy Collective Solar Array and Sunshare Array

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.