Ohio State recognized by EPA as 2015-16 top green power user in Big Ten
Columbus, Ohio – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized The Ohio State University as an Individual Conference Champion of the 2015-16 College & University Green Power Challenge for using more green power than any other school in the Big Ten Conference.
Ohio State beat its conference rivals by using more than 123 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power, representing 20 percent of the school’s annual electricity usage, as well as demonstrating the university’s commitment to support renewable energy alternatives and help users reduce their carbon footprints.
It is part of Ohio State’s continued efforts to advance sustainability across campus and throughout the community, including strategic sustainability goals developed by faculty, staff and students that are designed to enhance and expand policies, operations and practices.
“Ohio State is committed to implementing specific, university-wide operational goals to achieve our objective of carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Kate Bartter, director of the Office of Energy and Environment. “Through the use of wind and solar power for electricity and geothermal for heating and cooling, we are moving Ohio State forward in our shared mission.”
Ohio State's green power use is equivalent to the electricity use of nearly 11,300 average American homes annually, according to the U.S. EPA. Additionally, the Big Ten Conference’s collective green power use of 413,987,790 kWh is equivalent to the electricity use of 37,870 average American homes.
“EPA applauds Ohio State for its commitment to using green power and for taking a leadership position on the environment,” said James Critchfield, manager of the Green Power Partnership. “Ohio State is helping to reduce carbon pollution and provides an excellent example for other higher educational institutions to invest in environmental progress.”
Ohio State also is one of six Big Ten schools recognized by the EPA as 2015-2016 Collective Conference Champions for using green power. Since April 2006, EPA’s Green Power Partnership has tracked and recognized the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power use.
In the 2015-16 challenge, the 41 collegiate conferences and 94 schools competing collectively used nearly 2.5 billion kWh of green power. EPA will restart the 11th season of the College & University Green Power Challenge in the fall of 2016 and conclude in the spring of 2017.
About EPA’s Green Power Partnership
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The partnership currently has nearly 1,400 partner organizations voluntarily using billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit https://www.epa.gov/greenpower. For more information about EPA’s College and University Green Power Challenge, visit the challenge website at https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge.
