  |
Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
|
Mount Wachusett Community College The College, with an enrollment of over 5,000 students, has a long-standing commitment to environmental issues dating back to the 1980’s when they first installed solar panels. They have also completed over $2 million in energy conservation measures. In 2002, a biomass plant went online to heat the College replacing the inefficient electric heating system. The biomass plant has been widely successful and combined with their energy conservation measures, they have reduced their CO2 emissions by over 18% in two years, leading all state agencies in reductions. Mount Wachusett is installing a 50KW gasified biomass combined heat and power unit and are actively working on advancing wind power on campus. To compliment these renewable installations, MWCC is creating an associates degree program in Renewable Energy Technology, offers educational tours of these installations by appointment and staff are available for speaking engagements. http://www.mwcc.edu/renewable
Mount Wachusett Community College is moving ahead to increase their solar PV capacity. A solar site consultant has visited the campus to assess solar PV potential. MWCC is interested in capturing real-time energy output data into an accessible, web-based format for students and the community.
SSC is one of the few MA state colleges to have reduced their GHG emissions over the past three years. Recent accomplishments include hiring a full time sustainability coordinator and building a “green” dormitory; SCC is also in the process of building a performing arts center with the goal of acquiring LEED certification. Project update: Salem State College is laying the groundwork for their first solar PV installation. The focus is likely to be on Central Campus, which has a history of environmental initiatives; In 1997, SSC renovated this brown space into a campus, restored wetlands, and is the site of their green dormitory.
Springfield Community Technical College
In response to their high energy use and emissions, STCC has made a commitment to improve energy management and efficiency. They have installed new electric meters for more accurate measuring of electricity use, installed lighting sensors, put white roofs on academic buildings and various energy efficiency retrofits. STCC has funding for a photovoltaic system at their Technology Park which will allow the school to advance an alternative energies technical degree program. STCC’s long-term goal is to create a network of Massachusetts’s public campuses committed to energy renewal and conservation. Project update: Springfield Technical Community College has opted to pursue a solar PV installation, and is the first of the four colleges to have a solar site consultant visit campus. The next steps will be determining the most appropriately-sized system.
As one of the larger state colleges, WSC is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases of the nine MA state colleges. To better track the efficiency of their campus, WSC recently installed meters in buildings to individually track steam and electricity consumption. They have an environmental team which was established in the late 1990’s - among the oldest the MA state college system. WSC is in the process of creating the Westfield River Environmental Center to service the community, area schools, as well as the College. In addition, WSC is adjacent to the Berkshire and Holyoke Mountains in Western Massachusetts, and thus has wind power potential. Project update: Westfield State College is focused on their first solar PV system on campus.
University of Massachusetts at Lowell UML is committed to promoting sustainable development in the region while educating and training their students in sustainability principles. The school has a wealth of small renewable energy projects operating on campus including a 2.5 KW solar PV system on their engineering building which is in the process of being expanded by 9.2 KW. UML also operates 2.3 KW wind turbine system that consists of 3 small wind turbines, has 2 fuel cells and electric cars. Project update: The University of Massachusetts, Lowell is focused on establishing a website dedicated to capturing the energy output of the campus’s wind turbines and comparing this information to the energy needs of a typical home in the Merrimack Valley, where they are located. Read more about the good work going on at UMass-Lowell in the Lowell Sun. |
|||||||||
Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) is a two-year community college and the only technical college in the Massachusetts Community College system. Their students, faculty, and staff are environmentally active with various environmental clean-up and awareness campaigns as well as annual Earth Day events. They educate a student population of over 4,500 and are the largest emitters of GHG of all the MA community colleges. Like Salem, the City of Springfield is an economic target area with the majority of the area designated as an environmental justice community. 
University of Massachusetts, Lowell (UML) has over 12,000 undergrad, graduate and doctoral students. Lowell has been identified as an economic target area as well as an environmental justice community.