Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.24
Liaison Paul Scanlon
Submission Date Feb. 22, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Slippery Rock University
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.69 / 4.00 Paul Scanlon
Special Assistant to the President
President's Office/Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
295,447 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:
8.66 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
Grid-tied PV system: The grid-tied PV system at the Macoskey Center is located southeast of Harmony House. The 2.4 kW PV array is constructed from 20 Evergreen Solar EC120 12v PV modules and uses a Sunny Boy 2500U PV 240V AC Intertie Inverter. The array faces south and collects direct sunlight. The angle of the array is adjusted seasonally for maximum solar absorption. This system is tied into the local utility company via a net metering system. If the system generates more power than the house is using at any given time, it feeds back into the utility grid and the Center is credited for it (the meter turns backwards). Conversely, if the house load is greater than what the PV system is generating, we can draw power from the grid. Additional small PV systems power a rainwater collection system and pumps used in an aquaponics research project, but the electric output of these systems is not monitored or included in our renewable energy reporting.

Option 2 

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

None
A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
Waste wood from campus operations is collected and used for supplemental heating of the Harmony House at the Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research.

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:
NA

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:
51,180 MMBtu

A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
Slippery Rock University participated in a state system of higher education elecricity procurement process that purchased approximately 15% renewable energy through the FY11. This state system program was discontinued in 2012, but SRU has continued purchasing electricity from certified-renewable sources; 7,500,000 kWh of renewable energy RECs have been purchased each year from FY 2012 through FY 2015. In 2016 we began purchasing 10,000,000 kWH of wind power RECs, and in 2018 we purchased 15,000,000 kwh in RECs, over 53% of our total electricity usage for the year.

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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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 56
Geothermal 0
Hydro 8.10
Natural gas 8
Nuclear 24
Solar photovoltaic 0.10
Wind 2.80
Other (please specify and explain below) 1

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
The "other" fuel source is 1% oil (see https://www.firstenergycorp.com/about/generation_system.html#gsc.tab=0 for First Energy Corporation's mix of power plant fuel sources).

Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass 0.02
Coal 36.50
Electricity 0.04
Fuel oil 0.70
Geothermal 0.04
Natural gas 62.70
Other (please specify and explain below) ---

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

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
17.34

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