Going Green @ Haverford

The Facilities Management Department has developed an Energy Conservation Awareness Initiative to help mitigate the unprecedented escalation in energy prices that has occurred globally in recent months.

As we face this challenge, we are calling upon our campus community to support this campus initiative by implementing simple changes in energy utilization behaviors that can positively affect operating costs and the environment while relieving some pressure on institutional resources.   We have identified four major awareness components of this program below.
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In response to the comment on the last post, Ron Tola, director of facilities management, tells me that the two units are ground source heat pumps, with one unit for the second floor and another for the third floor of the residence. The lines are buried about 70 feet deep in a “cone” configuration with about 8 vertical members for each unit.

Want to know more about Haverford College’s geothermal wells? Ask the green squirrel.

The word geothermal comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and therme (heat). So, geothermal energy is heat from within the earth. We can use the steam and hot water produced inside the earth to heat buildings or generate electricity.  Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because the water is replenished by rainfall and the heat is continuously produced inside the earth.

1 College Circle has two geothermal wells. They are used to provide 2/3 of the heating and cooling for the house. While modified systems, they provide enough energy to heat and cool the second and third floors.

Other geothermal facts of interest:

• California has 33 geothermal power plants and is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world.
• The EPA has determined that geothermal heat pumps are the most energy efficient, environmentally clean and cost effective systems for temperature control.

During the 2007 Plenary, Haverford students elected to spend an extra $60 per student to purchase 100% wind energy for the College.

While the College is not directly buying wind energy, it is buying “offsets” that invest in renewable energy. For instance, funds are used to create wind farms that will eventually provide electricity.

Haverford College is one of a growing number of colleges purchasing wind energy for their campus. In July 2008, the United States overtook Germany as the world’s top wind energy producer.

Photo by Gerard Lovett, used under the creative commons license.

The American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment is a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate.

President Emerson signed this commitment in the summer of 2007.

The presidents signing the Commitment are pledging to eliminate their campuses’ greenhouse gas emissions over time. This involves:

• Completing an emissions inventory
• Within two years, setting a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral.
• Taking immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing from a list of short-term actions.
• Integrating sustainability into the curriculum and making it part of the educational experience.
• Making the action plan, inventory and progress reports publicly available.

Learn more about this initiative including the full text of the commitent.

Claudia Kent, sustainability coordinator, will periodically post the CER’s “Campus Sustainability Status Report” in response to the president’s commitment. The report for the period of May15 – June 30, 2008 is available as a PDF.