Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.71
Liaison Keisha Payson
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Bowdoin College
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.13 / 4.00 Keisha Payson
Sustainability Director
Facilities Mgmt
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
215,362.90 MMBtu

Option 1 

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:
119.32 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
In 2014 Bowdoin began purchasing electricity from a 1.2MW solar photovoltaic PPA that is installed on the Bowdoin campus that provides about 8% of Bowdoin's annual electricity usage. The PPA is for a twenty year term. The college did not purchase the RECs from these solar panels so can not claim any of the environmental benefit, although the college is proud to host this site, which was the largest solar project in the state of Maine at the time it was brought on line. Bowdoin has maintained RECs for the solar PV panels on the new Roux Center for the Environment, so can thus claim the full environmental benefit of the system. There are 70 panels which are estimated to produce 34,376 kWh annually.

Option 2 

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

None
A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
Thorne Dining Hall, the second largest user of hot water on campus, has a solar hot water system that produces 338 MMBtu per year and another solar hot water system on the roof of the Schwartz Outdoor Leadership Center provides domestic hot water to the kitchen, restrooms and showers of the building (these MMBtus not included).

Option 3 

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

None
A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
As part of a collaborative effort with four other colleges (Williams, Smith, Amherst and Hampshire) and Nextera Energy, Bowdoin has helped catalyze 22MW of solar PV in Farmington, Maine. If these credit worthy institutions had not come forward, the 22MW would not have been built. Bowdoin has contracted for 8 MWhs of the solar and the resulting RECs. The college anticipates the project will be on line by the end of 2019. This purchase is a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) that will account for roughly half of Bowdoin's annual electric load when it comes on line.

Option 4 

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:
60,634.65 MMBtu

A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
In the spring of 2018, as part of Bowdoin's effort to become carbon neutral, the campus purchased RECs to offset all remaining escope 2 (electricity) emissions, and carbon offsets to offset all remaining scope 1 and scope 3 emissions. Bowdoin signed a two year contract with Bonneville Environmental Foundation for enough wind RECs to offset all of Bowdoin's electricity purchases. The annual purchase amount is 17,771 RECS (17,771,000 kWh equivalent). One REC represents the environmental benefits of 1-megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated and delivered to the power grid. By purchasing these products, we alone have the right to all associated claims about the environmental benefits it embodies. Bowdoin also has maintained RECs for the solar PV panels on the new Roux Center for the Environment. There are 70 panels which are estimated to produce 34,376 kWh annually.

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

 

Sierra magazine requests the following information from U.S. institutions that wish to share data with that organization:

Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
Percentage of total electricity use (0-100)
Biomass 0
Coal 0
Geothermal 0
Hydro 0
Natural gas 0
Nuclear 0
Solar photovoltaic 0
Wind 0
Other (please specify and explain below) 0

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

Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass 0
Coal 0
Electricity 0
Fuel oil 0
Geothermal 0
Natural gas -2.10
Other (please specify and explain below) 0

A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
---

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
28.37

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

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.