The Environmental Protection Agency has ranked Northwestern fifth on its list of green energy purchasing colleges for its acquisition of wind power Renewable Energy Certificates, said Julie Cahillane, the manager of recycling and refuse at Facilities Management.
“It’s Northwestern’s commitment to increasing the development of clean energy, which in turn gives us a healthier planet,” Cahillane said.
NU does not actually produce green power. Instead, purchasing RECs from 3Degrees, a green power company, contributes to the production of sustainable power in the larger energy pool, Cahillanen said. Each REC represents one megawatt hour of renewable energy used.
She said it’s important to think about decreasing overall traditional energy used globally instead of just at NU.
She noted that NU has been purchasing RECs since 2006 and was included in the ranking, which was released in January, because it is a member of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership.
Emmaline Pohnl, a SESP senior and the co-president of Students for Ecological and Environmental Development, said NU has moved up three spots in the EPA rankings since the assessment last fall. While NU doesn’t directly use green energy, she said supporting wind farms is beneficial in the long run.
“Although we aren’t necessarily getting the exact electrons that were made on the renewable energy farm, we’re still supporting those companies and producing energy,” Pohnl said. “It’s investment for the new renewable energy technologies that are coming out.”
Despite its high green energy purchaser ranking, NU is not completely celebrated as a green university. The 2011 College Sustainability Report Card gave NU an overall C+ for sustainability, the second-lowest grade among Big 10 schools. Though NU did earn an A in the investment priorities category, Pohnl said there is more to sustainability than investment.
“If you’re still ignoring production of waste, if you aren’t encouraging the cafeterias to use local food, if you aren’t having innovative programs to encourage students to be sustainable, then purchasing sustainable energy isn’t enough,” she said.
Still, she credited NU with starting to push green initiatives.
“I’m definitely glad they’re investing and prioritizing it more,” Pohnl said.
Pohnl meets with Cahillane and other clubs and administrators every other week for the Sustainability Working Action Group, a committee that strives to make NU more environmentally conscious.
Cahillane said Facilities Management has been working on a number of green initiatives, including Green Cup, low-flow water options and occupancy sensors to save energy in empty rooms. A mandate requires every new building on campus to be LEED-certified, meaning a third party confirms they are green based on certain standards. Furthermore, Cahillane said NU is planning to bring Ford solar panels to campus this spring to generate its own electricity for the first time.
Although Pohnl said she wishes NU had topped the green energy purchaser list and earned a better grade on the Green Report Card, she said she hopes all the rankings will drive the University to be more sustainable.
“I hope that Northwestern isn’t discouraged by this and instead uses it as a motivational factor to increase environmental awareness,” she said.
Cahillane said purchasing RECs can help NU become greener in the future.
“We have a built infrastructure for traditional power like coal and nuclear as opposed to renewables,” she said. “But getting the infrastructure set up to feed our power grid with a significant quantity of renewable energy, that’s a new thing so it takes dedication.”
