Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.04
Liaison Troy Goodnough
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Minnesota, Morris
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.13 / 4.00 Troy Goodnough
Sustainability Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
134,201 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:
16,800 MMBtu

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

We obtain 60% of our electricity from two 1.65MW Vestas wind turbines. Morris owns all of the renewable energy credits for the power it consumes from both of these turbines. In addition, there are two photovoltaic panels near the Science building and a 300kW back pressure steam turbine in the biomass plant, which also makes electricity. There is also a 20kW solar PV system at Green Prairie Community.


Non-electric renewable energy generated on-site, performance year:
21,061 MMBtu

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

The recreational pool at our Regional Fitness Center (RFC) is heated by an array of 32 flat-plate solar thermal panels. This array is estimated to produce about 280MBtu per year. In addition, Morris has a biomass gasification plant that provides heating and cooling at Morris.


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:
---

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 0
Coal 17.90
Geothermal 0
Hydro 0.40
Natural gas 0.40
Nuclear 0
Solar photovoltaic 0
Wind 66.60
Other (please specify and explain below) 14.70

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

About 60% of campus electricity comes from wind. Other sources (solar PV, back-pressure steam turbine at biomass plant) contribute smaller percentages. Minnesota has a Renewable Energy Standard of 25% renewable energy by 2025. Our local electricity provider, also contributes to that goal. So, state policy is helping us increase our total renewable energy percentage beyond 60%. The mix from our power company in 2016 was: 18% wind, 44% coal, 1% hydro, 1% natural gas, 0% biomass, and 36% unassigned purchases. The unassigned purchased include nuclear and other sources.


Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass ---
Coal ---
Electricity ---
Fuel oil ---
Geothermal ---
Natural gas 100
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:
28.21

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Data from the 20kW array can be viewed here:
http://egauge13797.egaug.es/


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.