| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.83 |
| Liaison | Andrew Porter |
| Submission Date | March 10, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Cincinnati
IN-27: Innovation D
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Daniel
Hart Sustainability Coordinator Planning + Design + Construction |
Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome that outlines how credit criteria are met and any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation:
In 2015, University of Cincinnati (UC) installed a 138kV substation adjacent to its state of the art tri-generation plant. The substation allows the University to convert between 15-KV and 138-KV. This conversion means the University can bypass the local utility and purchase its power directly from the regional grid providers at a greatly reduced rate or alternatively generate the power directly with its trigen plant when the grid prices are too high. The power generated from the trigen plant, due to its extremely high combustion efficiency of natural gas, would be much greener then the power coming from Duke Energy or most any other large scale utility generator. This large $7,500,000 infrastructural investment for the campus has a project return of investment of only 3 years. Overall, this project represents a shift away from relying on utilities to "do the right thing" and--by virtue of the fact that UC is showcasing the sound economics of doing so-- can serve as a model for empowering other institutions who are willing to invest in similar methodologies to provide cleaner forms of locally generated electricity for their campuses.
Which of the following impact areas does the innovation most closely relate to? (select up to three):
Energy
Grounds
A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise or a press release or publication featuring the innovation :
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.