Campus leads state colleges in wind energy; 7th in nation
(Sept. 8, 2009) Andrew Pattison, a PhD student at UC Denver’s School of Public Affairs, led the effort to make the downtown campus a national model for sustainability. Pattison is a research fellow with the IGERT program. UC Denver received a prestigious $3.2M Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) grant from the National Science Foundation to develop an innovative interdisciplinary graduate program on sustainable urban infrastructure. His work supported by the grant is one example of what can be accomplished when the principles of sustainability are integrated into the operations and management of higher education campuses.
Pattison led the student-backed sustainability initiative that has made the Auraria Higher Education Center the top Colorado college campus purchasing renewable energy as ranked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. Renewable Choice Energy is providing the Auraria Campus with approximately 40 million kilowatt hours per year of nationally sourced wind energy renewable energy credits the next three years. Auraria is ranked seventh nationally for colleges and universities.
Since fall 2004, students have paid an additional $1 to $4 fee per semester to fund these sustainability programs. The Auraria Campus had been 45 percent wind powered since July of 2006 until last month’s increase. This new purchase represents 100 percent of annual electricity use on the campus. However, wind energy credits are only part of Auraria’s sustainability story.
More than 90 percent of Auraria Campus students voted in April 2007 to renew and expand the new sustainable campus program that funds: 1) the new three-year purchase of renewable energy, 2) a robust single-stream recycling program launched in January of this year has reduced campus landfill waste by 25 percent, 3) water efficiency projects including one approved this week that will save over 1 million gallons of water per year, and 4) building energy efficacy projects that will begin this school year, as well as related educational programs on campus.
“We voted overwhelmingly in favor of making our campus more sustainable, and our student fees have gone a long way toward advancing the cause,” said Andy Pattison, a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs and the chair of the Student Advisor Committee to the Auraria Board’s Sustainable Campus Program Committee.
“Our student funds have been leveraged with those of campus Facilities Management and have become a national example of how campus-level sustainable development can be good for people, planet, and pocketbooks.”
"With this commitment, Auraria Campus students have clearly demonstrated their steadfast support of sustainability and the mission of Greenprint Denver," said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. "We applaud the University of Colorado Denver, the Community College of Denver and the Metropolitan State College of Denver for pursuing renewable energy opportunities to help our community save energy, improve air quality and protect the environment. These students are setting a positive example for others in our community to follow."
Auraria’s total purchase of 122 million wind kilowatt hours represents enough electricity to power over 15,000 average Denver homes for a year and has significant environmental benefits. Generating the same amount of electricity using conventional energy sources such as coal would result in about 87,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. Avoiding the release of this greenhouse gas is about as beneficial as taking 16,000 cars of the road for a year or saving thousands of acres of trees.
Auraria purchased Renewable Energy Certificates, which are sold separately from the electrical output of renewable energy projects and are available to residential and non-residential customers nationwide through Renewable Choice Energy. “The students and administrators on the Auraria Campus are leading by example to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and educate their campus on the importance of moving our nation toward a more sustainable energy future,” said Quayle Hodek, CEO of Renewable Choice Energy. “We are proud to be a partner in their long-term strategy and commitment to supporting renewable energy development in this country.”
Photo: UC Denver's Andy Pattison has led the effort to make the Auraria Campus energy efficient.