April 18, 2012
EPA and Princeton Review Honor University
The Catholic University of America was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the 2011-2012 Individual Conference Champion for using more green power than any other University in the Landmark Conference.
This week, The Princeton Review also listed CUA as one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada in its third annual Guide to Green Colleges . The University was also listed in this guide last year.CUA came out on top of its athletic conference rivals in the EPA rankings by purchasing 43 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power through renewable energy credits (RECs), representing 100 percent of the school's annual electricity usage. The University purchases a green power product from Hess Energy Marketing, helping to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the campus' electricity use. RECs are energy commodities that represent proof that electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource.
In addition, Catholic University has installed one of the largest solar energy systems in the District of Columbia, which produces nearly 900,000 kWh of energy each year.
According to the EPA, the University's green power use of 43 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the electricity use of nearly 4,000 average American homes annually, or the CO2 emissions of nearly 6,000 passenger vehicles per year.
"Catholic University is committed to being good stewards of the environment, and Renewable Energy Credits make it possible to participate in energy related projects on a national or global stage," says Brian Alexander, the University's director of energy and environmental systems. "Having RECs backing all of CUA's electricity purchases means solar or wind projects are being constructed, even if not on CUA's campus."
Thirty collegiate athletic conferences and 73 schools competed in the 2011-2012 EPA challenge, collectively purchasing more than 1.8 billion kWh of green power. Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro. Purchases of green power help accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.
The Princeton Review chose the 322 schools in its guide based on a survey it conducted in 2011 of hundreds of colleges across the U.S. and in Canada to tally its annual "Green Rating" scores (scaled from 60 to 99). The survey asked administrators more than 50 questions about their institutions' sustainability-related policies, practices, and programs.
The 322 schools in this guide received scores of 83 or above in that assessment. Information about The Princeton Review's Green Rating methodology can be found at www.princetonreview.com/green.
For more information on Catholic University's sustainable initiatives, visit http://green.cua.edu. For more information about EPA's College and University Green Power Challenge, visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/initiatives/cu_challenge.htm .
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