George Washington University
OP-9: Clean and Renewable Energy

An 18-panel photovoltaic array is operating on a trellis above a walkway, known as the Solar Walk, between two buildings at the Virginia Science and Technology Campus. Below the Solar Walk is the world’s first walkable solar-paneled pathway which includes 27 slip-resistant, semitransparent panels comprising 100 square feet. In peak conditions the walkable panels, designed by Spain-based Onyx Solar, generate enough energy to power 450 LED pathway lights, while the panels on the trellis generate energy that feeds nearby Innovation Hall. The energy production figure shown in Option 1 above is for these devices. On GW's Foggy Bottom Campus, a solar table was proposed and installed by students, led by sophomore Ben Pryde. The solar table is capable of fueling the equivalent of eight laptops for nearly seven days. Installed on a plaza between 21st and 22nd streets and F and G streets, the six-foot-long table is made of rain-resistant plywood and aluminum, with a layered tabletop of plywood and a 280-watt solar panel covered with Plexiglas. Devices like cell phones and laptops can be placed on the table and plugged into one of its eight 120-volt outlets. Power produced from this table is not metered. The university also has several signs that are lighted at night using solar energy collected and stored during the day. These signs are also not metered.

The university installed its first solar thermal hot water system in March 2011 on a residence hall at 2031 F St. (formerly Building JJ). During the summer of 2011, GW installed two more solar hot water heating systems on residence halls at 1959 E St. and Ivory Tower (later renamed Shenkman Hall). The energy production figure shown in Option 2 above is for all three of these systems. A fourth solar hot water system will be installed in spring 2015.

During the reporting year, the University purchased RECs from local and/or nationwide wind energy farms as a component of LEED certification applications for several new construction projects. Starting in January 2015, the University began receiving solar energy purchased directly on our behalf from an off-site solar energy farm.

During the reporting year, the University purchased RECs from local and/or nationwide wind energy farms as a component of LEED certification applications for several new construction projects. A few RECs were also donated by an energy supply firm to offset the natural gas used on Earth Day.

With the main campus located in a dense urban area, on-site clean energy generation and carbon sequestration options are limited. However, GW is committed to leveraging its urban campuses in the District of Columbia and its Northern Virginia campus to pilot innovative green energy generation and sequestration options that can help reduce carbon emissions, both for the university directly and for its community. New discoveries, equipment and systems for green energy and carbon sequestration are emerging at a rapid pace, but require testing and improvements. The university is using its campuses as testing grounds for new technologies and integrate the performance of these options into learning and research opportunities for students and faculty as appropriate. As part of this innovation strategy GW targets a 1,000 MTCO2e reduction in its emissions by 2025 through use of on-campus clean energy sources. Additionally, the university aims to produce 10 percent of its energy needs through on-site low-carbon technologies by 2040. Many contributors to the GW carbon footprint are out of the university’s direct control. As a single player in a complex system GW realizes it cannot reach carbon neutrality independently or in isolation of other entities affecting carbon emissions for the D.C. area. The university is forging partnerships with other institutions in the Washington, D.C. community to both achieve GW’s own targets and assist the region in reducing its carbon emissions as well. The university is working with partners to decrease the carbon intensity of its electricity fuel mix, as evidenced by the Capital Partners Solar Project, which began to come on line in January 2015. http://gwtoday.gwu.edu/university-announces-capital-partners-solar-project