Mount Wachusett Community College 2008 Campus Sustainability Leadership Award Application

Category

Community Colleges & Other Two Year Institutions

image
Mount Wachusett Community College Biomass Power Plant
Photographer: Dana Armstrong

Contact

Ed Terceiro
Executive Vice President
Administrative Services
Mount Wachusett Community College
Gardner, MA
(978) 630-9103
eterceiro@mwcc.mass.edu

Governance & Administration

 

Mount Wachusett Community College has demonstrated its leadership in promoting renewable energy options both on campus and throughout the community. College staff have aggressively pursued numerous initiatives and projects to decrease the College's dependence on foreign fuels and to educate our students and our community on the multitude of benefits associated with utilizing renewable energy options. Daniel M. Asquino, President of the College, was one of the first signatories of the President's Climate Commitment.  The College also was an early subscriber to the "25 x 25 America's Energy Future" initiative. 

The conservation and renewable energy initiatives have been led by a team consisting of the College's Executive Vice President, Director of Facilities Administration and Director of Facilities Maintenance and Mechanical Systems. This team has developed an impressive list of projects and has built upon those successes to develop new and exciting initiatives that will further reduce the College's dependence on fossil fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

The College's Executive Vice President, who also serves as the College's resident engineer, is a member of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Education Sub-Committee  and Biomass Coordinating Council. He is an advisory committee member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).  He is joined by other college staff on the following committees:

  • Massachusetts Task Force (Leading by Example) Office of Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs
  • Expert advisory group for the Massachusetts Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Initiative.
  • National Forestry Advisory Board for "25 x 25"
  • Pioneer Valley Planning Commission - Renewable Energy Collaborative
  • Massachusetts Biomass Working Group
  • Coalition of Northeastern Governors - Regional Biomass Program Steering Committee
  • Massachusetts Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Initiative

The College is in the process of incorporating a sustainability statement within its mission as well as establishing a core competency in sustainability.  The College recently created a position of Director of Sustainability who will have oversight over the President's Climate Committee which is comprised of 35 faculty, students, and staff.   The President's Climate Committee consists of five sub-committees who will focus on the following areas; Energy Efficiency/Demand-side Management; Waste Minimization/Single Stream Recycling; Curriculum Development; Research & Community Outreach; and Co-generation and Renewable Energy.

The College has demonstrated its leadership in promoting renewable energy options to a wide variety of constituencies. In keeping with this agenda, the College has been working with its Foundation to establishing a "Center for Sustainability & Renewable Energy" as part of a $7.5M capital campaign.  The Center will provide a formal setting that will be used to disseminate information, educate both the public and private sector and promote sustainable practices that will ultimately help achieve climate protection and energy efficiency.

The President of the College has initiated a unique partnership with the Doyle Conservation Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmental stewardship.  This partnership will provide a Lecture Series focusing on Sustainability and Renewable Energy Strategies that will be free of charge and open to the general public.

 

Operations

 

Mount Wachusett Community College has developed a national and international reputation as a leader in utilizing alternative energy, energy conservation, and C02 reduction. College staff have aggressively pursued numerous initiatives and projects to decrease the College's dependence on foreign fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to educate our students and our community on the multitude of benefits associated with utilizing renewable energy options.  The College's conversion of its all-electrical campus to a biomass hydronic district heating system contributed to the elimination of woody biomass from the waste stream, addressed the nation's energy and homeland security policies, demonstrated the use of a sustainable and locally available feedstock, and has had a very positive effect on the College's operating budget.

The college's investment in renewable energy has led us to savings of over $2.674 million over the past five years and to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 22.5 percent. We have offset over 25.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity (a 45.97% reduction) and reduced our consumption of water by 13.3 million gallons (a 52.52% reduction). The energy savings accomplished by this project provides a significant environmental and health benefit from the reduction of air pollutants.  Cumulative emissions reductions include: 11,000 tons of CO2; 18 tons of NOx and 47 tons of SOx.  This translates to an equivalent of planting 3,012 acres of trees and removing 1,920 cars from the roads.

The College's efforts have been recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (State Sustainability Award); Worcester Business Journal (Environmental Award-Energy Conservation); National Wildlife Federation (Chill Out Competition Winner); Clean Air Cool Planet (Climate Champion); and the International Facility Management Association (Award of Excellence). 

The following projects demonstrate the College's commitment and innovation:

  • The College was awarded $1M from the U.S. Department of Energy to promote Wind Turbine Technology and is currently in the permitting process to install two 1.65MW turbines.
  • NSF funding has resulted in three new renewable energy courses.
  • U.S. Department of Energy awarded the College $1M to install and test a biomass CHP gasifier that will produce electricity and thermal energy.
  • The College is in the process of installing a white membrane (cool roof) and will install a 100kW photovoltaic array (summer 2008). The cool roof will increase the efficiency of the photovoltaic array.
  • As part of a U.S. Department of Energy grant, we coordinated the efforts of eleven state energy offices to encourage the use of biobased fuels and biobased products for large private and public users. (Partners include the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) Policy Research Center, United Soybean Board, National Biodiesel Board, Brookhaven National Energy Laboratory, and World Energy Alternatives.
  • The College implemented and has continued to develop a variety of energy conservation measures (ECMs) designed to reduce energy consumption.
  • College staff members are certified by the Northeast Energy Efficiency Council on energy and resource-efficient operation of building systems.

These efforts illustrate the College's commitment to sustainable practices that will ultimately help achieve climate neutrality, climate protection and energy efficiency.

 

Curriculum & Research

 

The College has expanded offerings within its Natural Resources Program to include the following three courses: Renewable Energy Sources; Energy Efficiency and Conservation Methods; and an Introduction to Energy Management Principles.  The College has also recently hired a Director of Sustainability whose role will include working with Academic Affairs to develop a major in Sustainability/Renewable Energy.  Students, in a variety of programs and disciplines have benefited from the College's renewable energy initiatives. For example, the Executive Vice President, Director of Facilities Administration and the Director of Facilities Maintenance and Mechanical Systems are regularly scheduled lecturers in the Natural Resources Program.  Students analyze moisture content of the feed stock while others in our Journalism and Broadcasting/Telecommunication programs have documented the success of our programs.   The College's photovoltaic array will be linked to information kiosks that will be located throughout the building to report electrical generation, savings, CO2reduction, etc.  A similar arrangement will provide information derived from the wind turbines.   The College has also acquired the services of an interior decorator and designer who is redesigning the College's Admissions and Student Enrollment Suites.  The redesign will incorporate a "green" design and theme and will showcase the College's accomplishments in this area. Information kiosks will also be available in this location.

As a result of funding received from the Department of Energy, the College has been conducting research on a biomass gasifier combined heat and power (CHP) module that was developed by Community Power Corporation in Littleton, Colorado.  The purpose of this research is to field test the unit under various conditions with the end goal being to bring this product to the commercialization stage.

The College's Executive Vice President was recently asked to be a member of a US delegation of education and training professionals that traveled to Germany to study workforce development strategies that could be used to address annual renewable energy market growth in the areas of wind turbine technology, solar and photovoltaics.  Both the Executive Vice President and the Director of Facilities Administration have been invited to speak throughout the country and abroad including but not limited to:

  • Western Massachusetts Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • New England Chapter of Facility Engineers
  • National Wildlife Federation - "Chill Out" Competition National Teleconference
  • American Council on Renewable Energy
  • Massachusetts Association of Facilities Administrators
  • National Biomass Conference
  • Densification of Woody Biomass for Gasification Feedstock (Jyvaskyla, Finland)
  • DTI Global Watch (Coventry, England)
  • Energy Conversion and Conservation - Astrakhan State University (Astrakhan, Russia)
  • Harvard University, Holy Cross, University of Connecticut, Hampshire College, University of Montana, University of Maryland, West Virginia University, and Smith College
  • Northeast Energy & Commerce Association
  • Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
  • National Bioenergy Conference

The College has also recently entered into a collaborative agreement with the Doyle Conservation Center to develop a speaker's series that will focus on Sustainability and Renewable Energy Strategies.  These sessions will be offered free of charge and will be open to the general public.

 

Campus Culture

 

Sustainability and renewable energy have become the mantra of the College.  The College is very serious about what it believes is its role as a depository of information as well as its role in providing technical support to the campus community as well as the community at large.   The following is representative of campus activities pertinent to these initiatives:

  • Students have formed a campus "green society" that focuses on a variety of projects.  For example, this club has held a number of extremely successful drives to sell compact fluorescent bulbs to faculty, students and staff.
  • Students are working with staff on a single stream recycling effort.
  • The College's local chapter of MASSPIRG has been very active in promoting a variety of informational sessions.
  • Students in our Broadcasting/Telecommunication Program have produced videos and informational pieces on renewable energy.
  • The College newspaper has featured numerous articles not only on the College's efforts but also on "green" strategies.
  • Students have volunteered to partner with College staff to make presentations on sustainability and renewable energy topics throughout the community.
  • Thirty-five faculty, students, and staff have volunteered to participate on the College's President's Climate Committee that will develop strategies on achieving carbon neutrality.
  • Students, faculty, and staff have collaborated to develop "Earth Day" events including the showing of An Inconvenient Truth and hosting a speaker series on climate change that included speakers from the Union of Concerned Scientists and Congressman John Olver.
  • As part of a Service Learning Project, a current student is developing a conference on renewable energy and sustainability practices that will be held at the College in the spring of 2009.
  • The College has recently hired a Director of Sustainability.

 

Community Service and Outreach

 

  • Due to his expertise in renewable energy, the College's Executive Vice President has been asked to serve on a number of Building Committees or as an advisor throughout the College's service delivery area including:  Fitchburg/Leominster Boys & Girls Club; Association for Retarded Citizens; Veterans Hospice; Montachusett Regional Vocational  High School, Narragansett High School and Westminster Council on Aging.
  • College staff have made numerous presentations on sustainability and renewable energy in the local community, nationally and internationally.
  • The College's Executive Vice President is a member of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Education Sub-Committee Force and Biomass Coordinating Council. He is an advisory committee member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). He is also a member of a Massachusetts Task force (Leading by Example) that has been established by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs and has been invited along with the College's Director of Facilities Administration to serve as a member of an expert advisory group for the Massachusetts Sustainable Forest Bioenergy Initiative.