| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.64 |
| Liaison | Rob Andrejewski |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Richmond
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.21 / 4.00 |
Rob
Andrejewski Director of Sustainability Office for Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
283,791.49
MMBtu
Option 1
967
MMBtu
None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
In Spring 2016, the University of Richmond completed installation of a 204.8 kW solar array on the roof of the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness. 749 panels cover roughly 22,000 square feet of the rooftop. 76% of the panels are bifacial, allowing them to collect direct solar energy from the front and ambient energy from the back. The array also utilizes two different kinds of inverters and the two types of panels are also installed on both gravel and white TPO roofs. All of these factors enable classes to use the Weinstein Center array as a living lab, conducting research on how different types of panels, roofing, and inverters impact energy production.
This solar photovoltaic system is designed to genrated 283,400 kilowatt hours of electricity in 2017, exceeding it's expected capacity by 17%.
University of Richmond partnered with Secure Futures, a solar energy development company, under the Virginia Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Pilot Program to install this array. According to the PPA, Secure Futures will install, maintain, and own the solar photovoltaic array on top of the Weinstein Center.
Photovoltaic solar panels are installed on apartment building serving one apartment. The array is capable of providing 2kW under ideal solar conditions and is estimated to produce 2 kWh annually. Each of the ten solar panels in the array has a micro inverter that isolates it from the rest of the array, which is beneficial during overcast conditions.
Option 2
0
MMBtu
None
A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
A solar hot water collector system was installed for one campus apartment. The system is capable of heating water 18 gallons/hour at 100 degree increase in temperature. The system has dedicated Btu meter to measure actual solar energy harvested.
Option 3
0
MMBtu
None
A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
The University has contracted for a 20MW renewable energy facility off campus, but it will not be operational until 2020.
Option 4
14,015.80
MMBtu
A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
The University began purchasing Renewable Energy Credits in Fall 2012. The University purchased 4134 RECs in 2017.
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Sierra magazine requests the following information from U.S. institutions that wish to share data with that organization:
| Percentage of total electricity use (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 3.50 |
| Coal | 26.50 |
| Geothermal | --- |
| Hydro | 0.20 |
| Natural gas | 33.60 |
| Nuclear | 33.80 |
| Solar photovoltaic | 1.90 |
| Wind | 0 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 0.50 |
A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Taken from https://www.dominionenergy.com/about-us/making-energy
Oil is other .5
Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
| Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100) | |
| Biomass | --- |
| Coal | --- |
| Electricity | --- |
| Fuel oil | 2 |
| Geothermal | --- |
| Natural gas | 98 |
| 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:
5.28
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.