St. John’s College Santa Fe campus is launching a comprehensive, multi-phase solar and energy efficiency project through a partnership with Ameresco, Inc. As part of its contract with the college, the cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy will complete several phases of work to renovate facility infrastructure and recognize energy savings opportunities.
Planned upgrades to the educational institution include the addition of 1,670 solar panels, as well as 20 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across four campus parking lots. The solar installation will use an innovative grid-connected photovoltaic design, which will link the energy generated to the local utility grid and enable St. John’s College to store and utilize power as needed.
To date, completed updates include campus-wide interior and exterior LED lighting retrofits, re-roofing and rooftop HVAC retrofits on three buildings, boiler and air handling unit replacements, and water infrastructure upgrades in the dormitories. These updates are designed for St. John’s College to reduce its carbon footprint by 858 metric tons, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 167 homes or 96,530 gallons of gasoline consumed, delivering over $100,000 in annual cost savings.
“At St. John’s College, we are proud to be moving forward on multiple fronts. The implementation of these sustainable solutions ensures that our campus facilities and student offerings fit the culture we’ve built our institution on,” said Mark Roosevelt, President of St. John’s College Santa Fe. “I’m thrilled that we’re incorporating innovative technologies into our campus design and entering into a new era of environmental responsibility.”
The project was started thanks to St. John’s College Santa Fe’s Class of 2019 senior gift, which provided funding for an energy audit of the campus.
“Partnering with the team at St. John’s College has been a true pleasure. It’s always a rewarding experience to work with an organization that has a vested interest in upgrading existing infrastructure in a truly collaborative way,” said Bob Georgeoff, Executive Vice President of Ameresco. “Together, we’ve been able to identify areas of improvement that will have a long-lasting impact and help the college generate significant energy and cost savings, making room for funding allocations elsewhere.”
