As the University works to carry out the goals outlined in the President’s Climate Commitment, the Sustainability Committee and the Utilities Department are considering bringing more renewable energy sources to campus. The plans on the table include two major projects: Ageo-thermal plant and solar panels on top of the Freeman Athletic Center.

“Currently, we are working on two endeavors—getting funding for 140 kW of PV solar on Freeman, a project that started some time ago and still awaits a decision by the CT Clean Energy Fund, and analyzing the potential to incorporate a large scale geo-thermal presence into the campus heating/cooling loop,” wrote Associate Director of Utilities Peter Staye in an e-mail to The Argus.

In addition to these projects, the Utilities Department has sent in applications to the Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL & P) for other conservation-themed projects, including replacing the lighting and the Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system in the [pool room] at Freeman, the lighting in the CFA Art Studios and 45 Broad Street [where Broad Street Books is located], along with other projects in the Central Power Plant.

“Total expense is around four million,” Staye wrote. “If that gets approved, a bunch of space would be freed up in the mechanical room at Freeman (the new equipment would be located on the roof) so there would be an opportunity to introduce solar hot water to heat the pool.”
According to Director of Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability Bill Nelligan, none of the plans are finalized.

“[Geo-thermal] projects are listed in our Climate Action Plan as projects we envision for the future,” Nelligan wrote in an e-mail to The Argus. “We currently have no plans for a project in the very near future, but the sustainability committee is researching some possible locations that would be suitable for a geothermal application.”

Sustainability Advisory Group Committee Member Julia Jonas-Day ’12 said she thinks the University would benefit significantly from the addition of a geo-thermal plant and solar panels on campus.

“[At this point] it’s so vague that no one can get up in arms about it yet,” Jonas-Day said. “It would be great for our image as a sustainable campus.”