Manhattanville College to Source 20 Percent Power From Solar

From Manhattanville College:

Purchase, NY, May 4, 2016 -- In a major milestone in its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality, Manhattanville College has entered into an agreement to source 20% of its electricity from renewable power.

Manhattanville College announced a 25-year solar energy purchase with partners Energy In the Bank, RBI Solar, Cenergy Power and General Energy Solutions. The total project will supply approximately 1.1 megawatts of emissions-free electricity per year drawn from approximately 3,600 solar panels. The project was approved on April 26 by the Harrison Planning Board who recognized the college for being the first in the town to have a LEED Gold rated building (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) and will be the first in town to install solar carports. The project will start this summer and take approximately four months to complete.

Commenting on the project, President Jon Strauss said; “Manhattanville College is firmly on its way to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025. Solar power is a reliable renewable energy resource for the college to tap into. The project realizes environmental benefits and is cost competitive with conventional energy sources, which are projected to increase over the next 25 years. The agreement provides fixed pricing for solar energy at a lower total price than current power solutions.”

Addressing climate change has been a priority since the college signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2009, and set an ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

Manhattanville’s climate plan has four strategies to achieve neutrality; reduce consumption, produce renewable energy, buy offsets for travel and other unavoidable emissions and buy green power.

Directly sourcing solar power for 20% of the campus electricity needs eliminates approximately 800 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, which is the equivalent to removing 160 cars off the road annually. That represents a significant reduction in our carbon footprint.

A number of other methods are underway to reduce energy use on campus including, LED replacement lighting, building temperature monitoring using better controls on boilers and AC units, replacement windows, and variable speed pumps.

To cut down on transportation emissions Manhattanville offers the community shuttle buses for local trips and trips to NYC on weekends. The college also has plans to install electric vehicle charging stations. Efforts to conserve water are seen in tray-less dining, more efficient toilets, showers and sinks, and in more than a dozen campus water fountains retrofitted with bottle filler spigots. The college used 27 million fewer gallons of water over the past year compared to 2003.

Manhattanville also offers courses that incorporate or concentrate on sustainability. Faculty members research sustainability on and off campus, and students lead efforts through programs, clubs and an organic garden. The college recently joined the Westchester Green Business-Certified program which is a collaborative group of Westchester County organizations from diverse industry sectors, recognized as Green Business Leaders.

About Manhattanville College:

Manhattanville College is an independent, co-educational liberal arts institution dedicated to academic excellence and social and civic action. Manhattanville prepares students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community. Located just 30 minutes from New York City, Manhattanville serves 1,800 undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students from more than 45 countries and 40 states. Founded in 1841, the College offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate areas of study in the arts and sciences. It offers graduate programs in Education, Business, Creative Writing, as well as Continuing and Executive Education programs.