Office of Sustainability

In Spring 2011, the Office of Sustainability (formerly Office of Environmental Policy), collaborating with the School of Engineering and the Center for Clean Energy Engineering, engaged consultants from  CT’s Center for Advanced Technology to begin a preliminary siting and feasibility study for installing various forms of on-campus renewable/sustainable energy generation.  The process began with a survey of faculty members identified as having research interests in alternative energy and fuels. Respondents were then interviewed about their work, in order to identify likely candidates for creating demonstration and/or working-scale projects to showcase their work on the University grounds. Investigators working on geothermal, solar thermal, solar PV, wind turbine efficiency, fuel cells, biofuel, biomass, micro-grids, and smart building systems, were interviewed.

 In addition to the interviews, and during the course of developing the Renewable Energy Strategic Plan, UConn convened two meetings of faculty and operational staff in order to update participants on progress with the plan and to:

1. Ensure the alignment of academic and operational goals
2. Encourage staff who occupy and manage potentially suitable host facilities to come forward
3. Promote faculty grant applications for demonstration-scale renewable installations
4. Identify and apply for other state and federal incentives

The Preliminary Feasibility Study and Strategic Deployment Plan for Renewable & Sustainable Energy Projects.pdf identifies and assesses target locations for the development of 12 demonstration-scale renewable and sustainable energy projects for the following technologies: solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, wind, fuel cells, geothermal, and biofuels. The development of renewable and sustainable energy projects at the University of Connecticut at Storrs will facilitate:

• Technology transfer
• Collaborative research into green energy sources and smart storage
• Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG)
• Integrate environmental principles into the student’s learning experience

These clean and renewable energy technologies will reduce GHG emissions by displacing emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels for electric generation, thermal energy, and/or transportation. The deployment of renewable and sustainable energy technologies identified in this Plan is consistent with the implementation of The University of Connecticut Climate Action Plan. Furthermore, this Plan compliments and expands upon the potential development opportunities for renewable and sustainable energy technologies identified within the Preliminary Feasibility Study and Strategic Plan for the Depot Campus.

Green Cleaning is defined as cleaning to protect health without harming the environment. Green cleaning is a widely accepted movement that uses procedures and products to make cleaning for the health of building occupants, janitors, and the environment a primary concern.

Some widely used cleaning products have serious adverse effects on the health of building occupants and janitors. Both long term and short term health effects are linked commonly to poor air quality as a result of clean product fumes.

As a result, the State of Connecticut and the University are committed to improving air quality and reducing hazard related to cleaning products, by using "green" cleaning products. These products are characterized by such qualities as biodegradability, low toxicity, low volatile organic compound (VOC) content, reduced packaging, and low life cycle energy use.

Why the need for green cleaning? Source: US EPA

One source of indoor air pollution can be found in the cleaning products used in the area. These products may produce noxious fumes or leave potent residues behind. Short term health problems caused by exposure to hazardous cleaning products include eye irritation, coughing, chest pain, vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea. Still worse are the long term effects, which may include liver and kidney failure, birth defects, emphysema, brain damage, and even cancer. Unintentional ingestion of toxic household chemicals in the U.S. costs almost $2.3 billion in health care per year.

In addition to being harmful to human health, many cleaning products have also proven harmful to the environment. Some of the more potent cleaners contain volatile organic compounds, phenolic compounds, or petroleum solvents and very few are biodegradable. Chemical cleaners produce 30,948 tons of hazardous waste each year and some ingredients of cleaning products are associated with eutrophication of streams and are toxic to aquatic organisms.

Why at the University of Connecticut?

Daily and periodic janitorial cleaning is commonplace at every UConn campus due to the large mass of traffic from the university community. As a result, the University of Connecticut is a large consumer of cleaning products. Therefore, we are working to encourage the use of green cleaners not only to promote clean and safe working conditions but also to reduce the impact on the environment.

The University of Connecticut is also required to comply with former Governor Rell's Executive Order #14. On April 17, 2006, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell issued an executive order which declares that all state facilities and workplaces shall "procure and use, whenever practicable, cleaning and/or sanitizing products having properties that minimize potential impacts to human health and the environment, consistent with maintaining clean and sanitary State facilities."

Furthermore, on June 11, 2007, the Connecticut Legislature approved Public Act 07-100. This act mandates that cleaning products used in State buildings must meet environmental standards set by an approved environmental certification program. These products must seek to minimize their potential harmful impact on human health or the environment.

UConn’s state-of-the-art Co-Generation Facility opened in February 2006, replacing several oil-fired utility boilers and enabling the University to meet its own energy needs at the main campus.

Co-Generation is defined as the sequential production of both electrical or mechanical energy and useful thermal energy from a single energy source. This allows over 80% of the fuel energy to be harnessed, versus 33% from a conventional electric power plant. The Co-Generation facility provides a two-fold reduction in emissions:

1. Natural gas, a cleaner burning fuel, is used by the facility to generate electricity and steam for heating and evaporative cooling.
2. Also, the inclusion of steam production in the process removes the need to construct separate steam-production facilities that would burn their own fuel and have their own emissions.

Most power plants on the electric grid are considerably less efficient than cogeneration facilities because they do not capture and utilize the steam for heating and cooling. Also, “distributed generation,” like UConn’s 25 MW Co-Generation facility, prevents the efficiency loss and congestion that occurs during transmission and distribution of electricity from the point of generation to distant electricity customers.

Due to these features, the UConn Co-Generation facility reduces carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions by an estimated 30,000 tons each year versus emissions from fossil-fueled power plants serving the regional electric grid.