Colleges Expending Energy on New Initiatives

• Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore.  

Lane set a goal four years ago of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. The college hired a full-time sustainability coordinator and established benchmarks for tracking the progress and impact of its efforts. The college has implemented a variety of energy-conservation measures on its campuses in Eugene, Cottage Grove, and Florence, Ore. Students have installed nearly five kilowatts of photovoltaic arrays on campuses, including a one system that serves the college’s child care center. Lane’s motor pool and maintenance fleet is being converted to energy-efficient and alternative-energy vehicles. The college offers an associate in applied science in renewable energy technology, water conservation, and energy management. Lane is also home to the Northwest Energy Education Institute, which provides energy- and building-related continuing education across the country.

• Lansing  Community College,  Lansing, Mich.

Lansing was one of the first colleges in the nation to incorporate alternative energy into its curricula and sustainability practices on campus. With help from $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, college instructors help other colleges and universities across the country create their own alternative energy curricula. LCC’s automotive
technology students work on hybrid vehicles and are building an internal combustion engine powered by a fuel cell. The college’s HVAC and building construction students learn energy management and alternative methods for heating and cooling buildings and residences. Students learn all of this first-hand at LCC’s West Campus, heated and cooled by a geothermal system. LCC-educated alternative energy technologists are finding employment with public utilities, alternative energy systems manufacturers, architectural and engineering consulting firms, energy management companies, heating and cooling contractors, and specialty independent energy systems retailers.

• Mount Wachusett Community College, Gardner, Mass.

The college converted its all-electric main campus to a biomass heating system, which uses wood chips as fuel to slash utility expenses and greenhouse gas emissions. The conversion has reduced the college’s carbon footprint by 22.5 percent, cut electricity usage by 38 percent, reduced water usage by 52 percent, and achieved cost savings of $2.93 million. The conversion is paving the way for other green energy initiatives on campus, including solar, wind, and geothermal.

• Wake Technical Community College, Raleigh, N. C. 

Wake Tech received a 2008 Innovation of the Year Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College in recognition of its Northern Wake Campus – the first all-LEED campus in the nation. To date, the $45 million campus has saved more than $100,000 through sustainable practices. It also has reduced water and energy use by 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively, and reduced construction waste by 50 percent. The college’s construction management associate degree program uses the Northern Wake Campus as a lab setting where students learn both conventional building methods and materials, and those elements of sustainable construction that have helped Wake Tech earn LEED certification.

• Lakeshore Community College, Cleveland, Wisc.

Lakeshore taps into the windy shoreline of Lake Michigan with a turbine that yields 50,000 kilowatt hours of energy a year and supplies about 2 percent of the campus’ electrical energy. The turbine, constructed in 2004, is used for technical training, workshops, seminars and courses on renewable energy systems.

• Los Angeles Community College District, Los Angeles, Calif.

LACCD has a goal of becoming the first community college system in the nation
to generate all of its own electricity. LACCD’s $5.7 billion budget came from bond referendums to renovate and modernize all nine college campuses, making the district’s program one of the largest in the world. The college is developing state-certified sustainable development curricula, and training students for jobs in a number of green fields including architecture, business, construction, design, transportation and utilities. Academic programs and courses are aligned with the emerging green technology industries that have the highest potential for job growth in the Los Angeles area.

• Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, Colo.

Red Rocks Community College’s new associate degree program in renewable energy technology combines elements of existing HVAC, carpentry, and construction technology programs with courses in energy system design, energy audit techniques, and solar panel installation.

• Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, N. M.

Santa Fe Community College’s Sustainable Technology Center offers non-credit courses and green job training programs. Credit programs include an associate degree in environmental technologies with concentrations in water conservation or solar energy, and certificates in environmental technologies, green building systems and solar energy.

• Great Basin College, Elko, Nev.

A new distance-learning associate degree program in industrial energy efficiency — developed in partnership with three other community colleges — combines courses from existing HVAC, construction technology, and electrical systems and millwright technology programs.

• Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, N. Y.

Hudson Valley Community College’s Workforce Development Institute (WDI) includes the Center for Energy Efficiency & Building Science, which provides training on the incorporation of energy efficiency methods into building trades. The college has established eight additional training sites for this program and several more sites are planned. In addition, the WDI offers a 40-hour photovoltaic electric systems introductory credit-free course designed for people interested in learning the fundamentals of photovoltaic system design and installation.

• Central Carolina Community College, Pittsboro, N. C. 

Central Carolina Community College offers its students a focus on sustainable fuel production. In 2008, the college’s Pittsboro campus began offering an associate degree in alternative energy technology, which uses the college’s comprehensive biofuels testing and production lab to educate students in a variety of industry skills. With support from the North Carolina Biofuels Center, the college is constructing a pilot scale plant that is capable of producing both biodiesel and ethanol from various feedstocks. The plant will be designed to produce fuel in a variety of ways to suit training needs. The production facility will also include an oilseed crushing facility and side stream management equipment. The fuel produced in the lab will run college vehicles and equipment.

• Cape Cod Community College, West Barnstable, Mass.

Cape Cod’s environmental technology associate degree program includes electives in solar and wind energy, energy efficiency, and energy auditing. The college also offers short-term certificate programs in photovoltaic and solar thermal installation, wind turbine installation and energy conservation.

• Iowa Lakes Community College, Northeastern Iowa

Iowa Lakes Community College offers an associate degree program that focuses on the operation and maintenance of wind turbines and includes a summer internship between the first and second year of training, as well as a one-year diploma program option. The college currently owns and operates a V-82 turbine and has a V-90 prototype nacelle that students use as an educational laboratory. The Wind Energy and Turbine Technology Program’s curriculum is industry-driven, with a program advisory committee as an integral part of the education. Representatives from business serve as guest speakers, provide industry input on curriculum and faculty development, and sponsor field trips to manufacturing and service facilities in the area.

Source: Academy for Educational Development and the National Council for Workforce Education

  Related Stories: 

• Cover Story: Green by Design 
  
• Community College Technology Update, Spring 2009

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