Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 75.77
Liaison Ezra Small
Submission Date March 2, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Massachusetts Amherst
IN-25: Innovation B

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Ezra Small
Sustainability Manager
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Largest Solar Project on College Campus in New England

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 2016, UMass Amherst installed over 15,000 photovoltaic panels across campus, providing 5.5 megawatts (DC) of clean electrical power for the campus to use for a heavily discounted rate. The major solar energy initiative will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the regional grid by the equivalent of 31,000 non-metric tons of carbon dioxide and cut the university's electric bills by $6.2 million over 20 years. This is the largest solar project on a college campus in New England, as of March 2017.

Solar panels were added to five buildings and two expansive solar canopy systems:
Recreation Center
Champions Center
Computer Science
Fine Arts Center
Police Station

Lot 25 (Mullins Center Parking Lot)
Lot 44 (North Apartments/Sylvan Residential Area Parking Lot)

The project was constructed by Brightergy, a national energy company with offices in Charlestown, Mass. Brightergy, through its partnership with Sol Systems, arranged for project finance, ownership and ongoing maintenance of the solar installations with the owner of the project, ConEdison Solutions for up to 20 years. The university will buy all of the electricity from the $16 million project for direct use on campus through a power purchasing agreement. Brightergy has also provided paid internships to four UMass Amherst students in Market Development, Solar Engineering Design, and Software Engineering/Web Developing.


Which of the following impact areas does the innovation most closely relate to? (select up to three):
Buildings
Energy
Investment & Finance

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

UMA is submitting this innovative project because although we do not receive any credit for this project in the OP section of this report because we are not retaining any SREC's until 2025, the project is incredibly innovative because we constructed over 11 acres of solar parking canopies and installed solar on some historically significant buildings on campus and all together the project is the largest solar project on a college campus in New England. This scale and type of solar project is unheard of in New England and throughout most of the country.


UMA is submitting this innovative project because although we do not receive any credit for this project in the OP section of this report because we are not retaining any SREC's until 2025, the project is incredibly innovative because we constructed over 11 acres of solar parking canopies and installed solar on some historically significant buildings on campus and all together the project is the largest solar project on a college campus in New England. This scale and type of solar project is unheard of in New England and throughout most of the country.

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.