Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 81.30
Liaison Patrick McKee
Submission Date June 30, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Connecticut
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.09 / 4.00 Sarah Munro
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Environmental Policy
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
1,796,906.20 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:
290 MMBtu

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

In the fall semester of 2016, 42 solar thermal panels on top of the new STEM residence building began producing hot water. They are estimated to provide approximately 35% of the building’s heating requirement.

UConn also has two 3.3 kW solar photovoltaic arrays and, although not counted above, a 400 kW natural gas-powered fuel cell on the Depot Campus. The fuel cell prevents the release of approximately 831 metric tons of CO2 per year and, because energy is produced without combustion, emits near zero other harmful air pollutants. Another 8.28 kW solar PV array sits on top of the Reclaimed Water Facility on the Storrs Campus.

http://news.engr.uconn.edu/exploring-solar-energy-at-uconn.php

http://today.uconn.edu/2012/04/uconn-commissions-fuel-cell-power-plant/

The fuel cell and solar array are both on University property, but are owned and maintained by an outside company. UConn purchases the power from this company through a power purchasing agreement (PPA).


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

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

A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
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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:
41,842 MMBtu

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

From 2013-2016, UConn participated in the ConEdison Solutions GREEN Power Program, in which the University agreed to purchase 18 percentage points more renewable energy than what the CT Renewable Portfolio Standard mandates that year. However, in 2015 a REC certificate was given to UConn that showed all, or 100%, of the purchased electricity came from Texas wind, a renewable source of energy. It is assumed that this is the case for 2016 and additionally, starting in 2017, this has been formalized in an updated contract with ConEd where the imported electricity will comprise of 100% renewables. Electricity is only purchased when UConn cannot supply all of the necessary power from our Co-Generation Central Utility Plant.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
Percentage of total electricity use (0-100)
Biomass 0
Coal 0
Geothermal 0
Hydro 0
Natural gas 89.32
Nuclear 0
Solar photovoltaic 0.01
Wind 9.13
Other (please specify and explain below) 1.54

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

Other means Distillate Oil (#1-4) that is burned in the on-campus cogeneration facility when natural gas curtailment is in effect.


Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass 0
Coal 0
Electricity 0
Fuel oil 3.16
Geothermal 0
Natural gas 96.81
Other (please specify and explain below) 0.03

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

Other includes Liquid Petroleum Gas (Propane) and Solar Thermal from the new NextGen residence building.


Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
2.34

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.