Why We're Interested
Humans burn fossil fuels in buildings, cars, factories, homes, and more, causing excess carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and methane are forms of greenhouse gas that trap heat, causing negative feedback loops for the planet’s climate (like extreme heat, volatile storm cycles, wildfire, air quality pollution, and more).
The climate is the backbone of many of our systems, and the less predictable it becomes, the more we can expect to impact things like public health, the economy, and infrastructure.
How We're Doing It
Procuring energy from clean sources.
See all of our renewable energy, adding up to 995 kW! That’s enough to power almost 200 homes.
Committed to energy management and efficiency.
We work closely with USU’s Energy Management Program in Facilities to highlight building innovations, strategize emissions reduction, and co-design programs to encourage efficiency that saves energy and money.
Decarbonize, decarbonize, decarbonize.
USU’s Facilities and Planning, Design, and Construction Departments launched a year-long planning process in 2022 to create our Logan Campus Decarbonization Master Plan.
The big takeaways:
- Procure clean energy to meet campus needs reliably without planet-warming emissions.
- Pursue deep HVAC efficiency work – get our buildings working as efficiently as possible.
- Move to hot water to lower the energy required to heat USU’s buildings.
- Electrify our HVAC system by using the earth as a battery and install geothermal wells that will supply heat to warm hot water, distributed in new piping that utilizes existing Central Energy Plant tunnels.
Still curious about our campus energy transition?