迪克西·里德

2021年5月7日

The COVID-19 pandemic had a “green” lining for 萨克拉门托 State, which has made progress on two major sustainability projects while the campus was largely unpopulated.

These projects, including the massive solar-array installation underway in parking 许多10, will help propel 囊状态 toward its goal of achieving full carbon neutrality by 2040 – five years ahead of California’s deadline.

这两个项目帮助该大学获得了高等教育可持续发展协会的STARS金牌评级。 The association’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, known as STARS, is a transparent, self-reporting framework that allows institutions to measure their sustainability success.

囊状态 garnered points for, among other achievements, reducing campus greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the lowest level in 20 years and for attaining certifications as a 美国树校园, a 美国蜜蜂校园, and a 野生动物花园.

“萨克拉门托 State has firmly established a culture where sustainability is at the forefront of what we do,” said Jonathan Bowman, vice president for 政府 and chief financial officer.

“Via the impressive efforts of our Sustainability Team, we actively cultivate and foster an environment where the entire Hornet Family knows it is making a compelling difference regarding climate change. Students are the vanguards in this effort and are the innovators who will make impactful, lasting changes for environmental stewardship.”

The solar project ultimately will expand to two parking structures – 3 and 5 – and will increase 囊状态’s clean energy production fivefold. 校园有现有的面板在WELL和大学图书馆的顶部。

Here’s the breakdown for each new site and the anticipated annual solar production in kilowatt hours (kWh):

• 许多10 – 3,979 solar panels; 225万千瓦时
• 停车结构3 – 1,000 solar panels; 703514千瓦时
• 停车结构5 – 1,886 solar panels; 120万千瓦时

“For context, the average single family home uses about 11,000 kWh of electricity per year. The campus uses about 45 million kWh each year,” said Ryan Todd, 囊状态’s director of energy and sustainability. “After this project is completed, our total power from renewable sources will be about 17-20% per year, and we will be 30% renewable when solar is at highest production over the summer months.”

托德说，这个价值680万美元的太阳能项目是由一项电力购买协议资助的，不需要大学支付任何费用。

囊状态 has committed to buying energy from the project’s developer at a fixed rate over the next 30 years, saving the University approximately $2.8 million to $3 million in energy costs and reducing GHG emissions.

第二个主要项目涉及大学图书馆，该图书馆因大流行病而关闭。 去年秋天，工作人员将5000个浪费能源的白炽灯泡换成了少了三分之一、亮度更高的LED灯泡。

The $2.36 million project, funded by the CSU Chancellor’s Office with state money appropriated for campus deferred maintenance and 囊状态’s Division of 政府 and Business Affairs, lowers the 图书馆’s energy usage by about 54.5% and saves approximately $100,000 annually in energy costs.

另一个好处是每年减少温室气体排放386公吨。

Anyone interested in following 囊状态’s progress can check out the new 萨克拉门托 State 可持续性仪表板. 它追踪大学使用的电力、太阳能、水和天然气的数据。 未来的迭代将包括有关校园废物，合成和温室气体排放的信息。

“The dashboard not only allows us ease of access to our campus energy usage but enables us to share this data outward for both full transparency and student learning opportunities,” said Kristina Cullen, sustainability and energy analyst.