Union has again been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a conference champion of the College and University Green Power Challenge for using more green power than any other school in the Liberty League.
This is the fourth time in the past five years the College has won the challenge.
The College beat its conference rivals by using more than 21 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power, representing more than 102 percent of the school’s annual electricity usage. Union buys renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Community Energy and Schneider Electric. The College also generates green power from an on-site renewable energy system using solar and wind resources.
Union’s green power use of more than 21 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the electricity use of nearly 2,000 average American homes annually.
The EPA’s Green Power Partnership tracks and recognizes the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power use in the nation. The Individual Conference Champion Award recognizes the school that has the largest individual use of green power within a qualifying conference.
Thirty-eight collegiate conferences and 109 schools competed in the 2017-18 challenge, collectively using nearly 3.6 billion kWh of green power. Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, eligible biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro.
Sustainability is one of the key priorities of the College’s Strategic Plan.
Union is consistently included among the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review’s “Guide to Green Colleges.”
Union buys renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Community Energy and Schneider Electric. The College also generates green power from an on-site renewable energy system using solar and wind resources.
