CEI PROJECTS 
In the 2008 National Wildlife Federation report "Higher Education in a Warming World: The Business Case for Climate Leadership on Campus," UNH figures prominently among the 100-plus schools cited for responding to global warming with best-practice strategies. UNH is the only New Hampshire institution featured in the report. Learn more...
Biofuel Efforts
- Biodiesel-fueled transit: UNH is transitioning its entire fleet of diesel vehicles to the use of low sulfur B20 biodiesel: in fall 2006, the UNH transit system began use of B20 in eight new CARB certified low-floor diesel buses. UNH also has six compressed natural gas (CNG) shuttle buses, four bi-fuel CNG/gas-powered pickup trucks, an all-electric non-transit utility van. In August 2006, UNH President J. Bonnie Newman, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, and officials from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) officially opened a new DOT biodiesel fueling facility on the Durham campus. Learn more!
- Biofuels speakers: In September 2006, OS - along with UNH's College of Life Sciences & Agriculture, UNH's College of Engineering & Physical Sciences, and the UNH Environmental Research Group - sponsored a public presentation and series of faculty, staff, and student research discussions with biocrop, biofuel, and biolubricant expert Dr. Duane Johnson of Montana State University's Agricultural Experiement Station.
- Biocrops research: In 2006 , UNH Cooperative Extension and Kingman Farm, part of UNH's College of Life Sciences &
Agriculture, began a research effort with a local farmer on a pilot sunflower project to test the feasibility of small-scale oil pressing and biodiesel production. The project will measure the yield of oil that can be processed into biodiesel for use on farms, the feed value of the meal that remains after the oil has been pressed from the sunflower seeds, and the food quality of the oil. In 2007, this research expanded to include testing camelina and three other brassica oilseed crops: canola, Sinapis alba "Ida Gold" (yellow mustard), and Brassica juncea "Pacific Gold" (oriental mustard) along with more sunflowers. There are approximately two acres of crops planted at Kingman Farm, 3/4 of an acre at Woodman Farm, and more at a family farm in Lee, New Hampshire. Seed pressing trials are anticipated to happen in October 2007. - Biofuels research: Other biodiesel research on campus includes that of the UNH Biodiesel Group and Chemical Engineering professor P.T. Vasudevan. This research covers a wide variety of areas, from the use of algae and of enzymes in biodiesel production to the automation of small-scale biodiesel micro-processors. In addition, in 2006 local business MBP, Bioenergy, LLC, of Conway, NH, won a New Hampshire Industrial Research Center matching grant of $40,000 to help fund research collaboration with College of Engineering & Physical Sciences faculty and students to research automating their patent-pending biodiesel microprocessor.
- Bioheat Deal for the UNH community: Through a partnership between UOS and Proulx Oil and Propane of Newmarket, UNH staff and students can purchase renewable bioheat (B20) - a mix of 20% biodiesel and 80% heating oil - at a fixed price for their home heating needs. A blend of traditional #2 heating oil and organic material such as refined vegetable oil, renewable bioheat is proven to burn cleaner than regular heating oil, thus reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, soot, and hydrocarbons. In addition, Proulx Oil donates $5 from each bioheat contract signed to both the fund established to support the daughters of former UOS associate director Crescentia Healy-True, who passed away in 2006 from breast cancer, and the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge, a non-profit group located at UNH and dedicated to helping New Hampshire households reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
For more information on biodiesel safety, read "Biodiesel @ UNH: Best Practices for Production, Use, Handling & Safety (PDF)" produced by the UNH Office of Environmental Health & Safety and the UNH Biodiesel Transition Memo (PDF) produced by UNH Campus Planning and UNH Transportation Services
Cat Cycles & Bicycling on Campus
Bicycles play an important role in the Transportation Demand Management plan at UNH. As an alternative to the single occupancy vehicle, bicycling does not contribute to greenhouse gas emission, provides good exercise and reduces traffic congestion. Manged by UNH Transportation Services, the Cat Cycles program allows any member of the university community to sign out a bike at the UNH Visitor Service Center at the entrance to the "A-lot" parking lot and have sole use of the bike for up to a week. All the bikes are durable, single-speed "cruisers" equipped with a lock, fenders, and a cargo basket. Cat Cycles provides a fuel-free mode of transportation to get to any campus and downtown location in a convenient manner, all while increasing the visibility of bicycles on campus and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Weather permitting, Cat Cycles are available for the UNH community to borrow April 1 - December 1. Contact University Transportation Services at 862-2328 to learn more!
Carbon Solutions New England™ (CSNE)
Carbon Solutions New England™ (CSNE) is a public-private partnership to integrate science, technology, and policy within a sustainability framework to address the challenge of regional carbon neutrality as part of a climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy. CSNE will unite partners from the public and private sectors to build a clean energy future for New England while sustaining its unique natural and cultural resources for future generations. CSNE will focus New England’s formidable intellectual and entrepreneurial capabilities on the development of a clean energy future that reduces greenhouse gas emissions while increasing our resilience and adaptive capacity to a changing climate. Ultimately, this program will provide a regional model of collaboration and cooperation for sustainable development that will serve as a resource for other national and international efforts. CSNE will be coordinated by the University of New Hampshire, a leader in Earth system and environmental science and sustainability.
Cogeneration & Landfill Gas
In 2006, UNH's combined heat and power facility - or cogeneration (COGEN) plant - went online. The primary source of heat and electricity for the five-million square foot Durham campus, COGEN retains waste heat normally lost during the production of electricity and instead uses this energy to heat buildings, in turn reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. UNH's COGEN cost an estimated $28 million with an anticipated payback within 20 years and resulted in an estimated reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 21% in AY2006 compared to AY 2005. In 2008, UNH will become the first university in the U.S. to use landfill gas as its primary energy source. In partnership with Waste Management of New Hampshire, Inc., UNH launched EcoLine, a landfill gas project that will pipe enriched and purified gas from Waste Management’s landfill in Rochester to the Durham campus. The renewable, carbon-neutral landfill gas will replace commercial natural gas as the primary fuel in UNH’s cogeneration plant, enabling UNH to receive 80-85% of its energy from a renewable source and sell additional power produced to the grid by mid-2009. Construction began in 2007 on the landfill gas processing plant in Rochester that will purify the gas and on the 12.7 mile underground pipeline that will transport the gas from the plant to the university’s Durham campus. UNH is expected to fuel its cogeneration plant with landfill gas by the fall of 2008.
When combined with the COGEN plant, this innovative landfill gas project will lower energy costs, provide energy security, and reduce the UNH Durham campus's greenhouse gas emissions an estimated 67% below 2005 levels and 57% below 1990 levels.
- Learn more about UNH's cogeneration plant and landfill gas pipeline by clicking here or here
- Tour the UNH cogeneration plant online
- Download the UNH EcoLine brochure (PDF)
- Still have questions? Visit the UNH Energy & Campus Development website.
Curriculum Related to Climate and Energy
UNH has a wide variety of curricula focused on climate change impacts and mitigation, including the following undergraduate and graduate courses: ChE 401 Energy and the Environment; ESCI 405 Global Environmental Change; ESCI 514 Introduction to Climate; ESCI 815 Global Atmospheric Chemistry; ESCI 764/864 Introductory Paleoclimate Analysis; ESCI 862 Paleoclimatology; NR 415 Global Biological Change; and NR 767/867 Earth System Science, among others.
- Global Environmental Change (ESCI 405): In the last six years, over 750 students have taken Earth Sciences 405: Global Environmental Change, an interdisciplinary undergraduate course in which students study the relationships among global environmental change, climate, and health, and meet with campus administrators to develop greenhouse gas reduction recommendations. Students spend the final one-third of the course participating in the "Search for Sustainability" that includes interviewing UNH administrators and staff from across campus and then conducting a role-play negotiation of a Kyoto Protocol-style agreement to reduce UNH greenhouse gas emissions. The students who acts as facilitators of these negotiations then collate and present the entire classes’ top emissions reduction recommendations to the UNH Energy Task Force (ETF) for the ETF to consider implementing campus-wide.
- Climate Change and Health (PHP 930) and Disease Ecology (PHP 932): These core courses are part of the UNH Master's of Public Health program in the UNH School of Health and Human Services. The "Climate Change and Health" course helps MPH develop an understanding of the climate system and the impact of climate change on public health. The "Disease Ecology" course explores the epidemiological significance of the processes linking the climate system with ecological and social systems that influence the interaction between humans and disease agents.
- 2006-2007 Discovery Program University Dialogue on Energy:
UNH's Discovery Program is designed to provide a common and unifying framework for the UNH undergraduate experience and focuses on the first year experience, interdisciplinary learning experiences, and integration with the academic major. As part of this program UNH hosts an annual campus-wide series of discussions and events around a theme called the University Dialogue. The 2006-2007 academic year theme was energy - "Power to the People" - UOS participated in and co-sponsored several events, including bringing Kathryn Blume's one-woman play about global warming - "The Boycott" - to campus. Faculty from many departments on campus authored energy-related papers for discussion sessions. What’s more, the 2007 UNH Undergraduate Research Conference – which highlighted students research from all departments and colleges – had a special focus on energy and climate related research.
Energy Efficient Purchasing
Signed into policy in 2006 by the UNH Vice President for Research and Vice President of Finance and Administration, the UNH Energy Efficient Product Standard (PDF) strongly recommends that members the UNH community purchase products that meet the specifications of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program. Using ENERGY STAR products can save UNH faculty and staff up to 30% in energy costs with no loss in product quality. UNH offices and departments are encouraged to seek out ENERGY STAR products when purchasing new equipment and can find helpful information on doing so through the UNH Energy Office. The UNH Energy Efficient Product Standard was developed through the UNH Energy Task Force with representatives from USNH Purchasing Office, the UNH Energy Office, and the UNH University Office of Sustainability. The introduction of UNH’s new Energy Efficient Product Standard is part of the University’s larger commitment to expand current energy efficiency efforts into all aspects of UNH in order to reduce the energy costs and environmental impacts associated with campus operations. In addition, the reduced impact associated with this new standard compliments the design, operation, and maintenance standards that are in place or are being developed by the UNH Energy Task Force, UNH Campus Planning, UNH Transportation Services, the UNH University Office of Sustainability, and the UNH Energy Office.
- Educational materials and guidance to help faculty, staff, and students purchase ENERGY STAR and energy efficient equipment and products.
- UNH new Energy Efficient Product Standard
For more information on UNH's energy efficiency efforts, visit the UNH Energy Office and the UNH Energy Task Force websites.
Don't forget: you can sell, donate, or transfer to another UNH department your used computers, electronics, and other items through USNH Surplus!
Engagement Related to Climate and Energy
UOS often supports speakers, events, and other happenings related to climate and energy! For example, we helped bring Kathryn Blume's "The Boycott" to campus in April 2007. Co-sponsored by the 2006-2007 Discovery Program University Dialogue on Energy, the UNH Department of Theatre and Dance, MUB Programming, UNH Residential Life, WildACT, Mask & Dagger, and the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC), "The Boycott" is a one-woman show depicting a U.S. First Lady staging a sex boycott to fight global warming and save the world!
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
In the winter of 2000, UOS partnered with Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP), an action oriented advocacy group that seeks to reduce the threat of climate change by engaging organizations and institutions in all sectors of civil society, to develop a greenhouse gas emission inventory that adapted national and international inventory methodologies to the unique scale and character of a university community. Data have been reported from 1990-2003 (PDF), and a 2004-2005 update (PDF) was released in September 2006. In 2005, UOS and CA-CP partnered again to improve the calculator (creating version 4.1) and its associated support materials, including an updated user guide and a list of frequently asked questions. Over 700 institutions have downloaded the calculator! UNH is committed to updating its greenhouse gas emissions inventory series regularly in order to comply with the American University and College Presidents Climate Commitment, capture institutional progress in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and inform the decision-making of the university, especially that of the UNH Energy Task Force.
Houghton's Energy Star Discounts
WildCAP is the UNH Climate Action Plan to significantly lower emissions of greenhouse gases as part of the University’s commitment to being a Climate Protection Campus. Since 2005, the Discount Program of WildCAP has partnered with Houghton ACE Hardware in Durham, Lee, and Newmarket to offer everyone in the UNH community – students and parents, faculty and staff, and local Durham-area community members and landlords – discounts on ENERGY STAR and energy efficient appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs – up to 50% off the listed retail price on some items. Orders for ENERGY STAR compact refrigerators, microwaves, and more placed with Houghton’s by August 24th will be available for pick-up at Houghton’s Durham store during student move-in week, September 1st through the 7th, adding the convenience of not having to transport appliances during the big move onto campus. What's more, Houghton's ACE Hardware is constantly looking for and adding products to its inventory that meet U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR ratings as well as other environmentally responsible products, including biodegradable and compostable trash bags, chemical-free insect control products, environmentally friendly cleansers, chemical free plant control products, and a wide variety of compact fluorescent light bulbs.
New Hampshire Carbon Challenge (NHCC)
Housed at the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge is driven by a dedicated crew of New Hampshire residents who firmly believe that climate stabilization requires changes from all of us as residents, homeowners, consumers, and citizens, and that these changes will not degrade the quality of our lives and can, in fact, enhance it. NHCC helps New Hampshire residents reduce their household carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 pounds per year. UOS staff often assist various NHCC projects and are involved in the NHCC Steering Committee.
Power Management & Powerdown
UNH strives to promote educational and outreach programs intended to increase awareness of and behaviors around energy use, efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change. Examples of this include:
- Powerdown educational campaigns over Thanksgiving and winter breaks: The UNH Energy Task Force, UNH Energy Office, and UNH University Office of Sustainability encourage all faculty, staff, and students to powerdown - turn off and unplug all computers, TV's and other electronics, printers and other office equipment, and more - when away from offices, residence halls, or apartments and homes for nights, weekends, and breaks. By turning off and unplugging computers, printers, fax machines, cell phone chargers, and other equipment and electronics - or by turning off the power strip into which they are plugged - you’ll save energy, lower energy bills, and prevent greenhouse gas emissions! UNH faculty, staff, and students saved over 159,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of energy, $22,721 dollars in energy and water costs, and over 50 metric tons of emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents through the University’s Fall 2006 Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge and its annual Thanksgiving “powerdown” initiative. These emissions savings are the equivalent of 116 barrels of oil or not driving 11 passengar cars for one year. In 2005, UNH powerdown efforts resulted in over 147,000 kWh and $20,000 in energy costs saved! Learn more!
- Use of computer power management: Computer power management settings are used in 205 computers in UNH Student Computing Clusters. Combined with using LCD monitors (which typically use 34 watts when active instead of the 73 watts used by CRT monitors) in the computer systems purchased in 2004, in FY05 monitor power management in these clusters saved approximately $10,778 in energy costs and prevented 51 MTCDE from being emitted. This energy savings is the equivalent of taking 10 cars off the road or lighting 62 homes for one year.
UNH highly encourages all computer users to use power management on their computers. Learn how here!
Download the 2007 Thanksgiving break powerdown flyer to post in your office, department, residence hall, or apartment (PDF)!
Presidents Climate Commitment
"Signing the Presidents Climate Commitment naturally stems from our broader commitment to sustainability. It is part of our mission as an institution of higher education not only to engage in world-class research on such pressing issues as climate change – and to educate our students about these issues so they are prepared to engage in solutions – but also to lead by example."
UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman
In February 2007, UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (AUPCC), adding UNH to the leadership circle of colleges and universities committed to climate neutrality, significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and education and research on climate change. UNH is the first New England land-grant university to sign the Commitment and in a leading group of more than 60 colleges and univerisities in the nation to sign.
"UNH is the first public land-grant university in New England to sign the commitment, demonstrating once again the university's long-standing leadership in sustainability," said Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature, a research institute dedicated to education and sustainability, and co-creator of the Presidents Climate Commitment. "We are thrilled to have UNH on board."
Presidents signing the Commitment are pledging to eliminate their campuses’ greenhouse gas emissions over time and ultimately to achieving climate neutrality. This involves creating an institutional structure to guide the development and implementation of climate neutrality, completing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, setting a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral, taking immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – such as providing access to public transportation or adopting an energy-efficient appliance purchasing policy – and integrating sustainability into the curriculum. Under the guidance and direction of the leadership circle, the Commitment is being supported and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), of which UNH is a member, Second Nature, and ecoAmerica.
- Read the press release about UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman signing the Presidents Climate Commitment
- Learn more about the Presidents Climate Commitment
Sustainable Buildings
UNH is committed to being as sustainable as feasible in its construction and renovation of buildings. As part of the Presidents Climate Commitment, UNH-Durham is committed to having all new campus construction and major renovation projects achieve U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards or equivalent; this policy will be applicable to all new projects initiated after UNH design and construction building standards have been modified in 2008. UNH’s comprehensive approach targets high impact intervention areas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as impacts on biodiversity and cultural continuity. Ranked by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) (PDF) in the top 5% of universities in its peer group for energy efficiency and by the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers in a 2006 survey of over 100 universities as one of the most energy efficient four-year colleges with graduate programs through the post-doctoral level, UNH has conducted an on-going energy efficiency program for over 30 years. And in May 2006, UNH was the first institution of higher education in the nation to receive ENERGY STAR ratings for residence halls. We now have eight U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR buildings! And the upcoming renovations of DeMerrit Hall and James Hall, two of our major science buildings, will stand as models of sustainable renovation - much as the renovation of the University Office of Sustainability did in 1999. The James Hall Renovation has been officially registered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to seek LEED Certification.
Learn more about sustainable buildings at UNH!
Sustainable Transportation
Under a framework of Transportation Demand Management (TDM), which seeks to reduce our use of single occupancy vehicles, UNH takes a holistic approach to transportation that includes expanded free transit services, increased on-campus housing, development of improved transit and bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure, support of the Amtrak Downeaster regional rail service, and ongoing educational and information programs aimed at providing expanded mobility without private vehicle use. Designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation as a “Best Workplace for Commuters” in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, UNH actively works with the state department of transportation and regional MPO to coordinate transit and intermodal transportation activities, and is a critical player in the regional transit system.
Learn more about sustainable transportation at UNH!
Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge
The Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge is an on-campus energy and water use reduction competition held on the UNH Durham campus for four weeks in the fall or spring semester. The major goal of the Challenge is to engage the students living on campus in activities that facilitate behaviors that reduce the ecological and economic costs associated with the their on-campus energy and water use. Students compete as a residence hall or an apartment complex to reduce their per capita energy and water consumption compared to their building’s average usage from the past three years. Each apartment complex and residence hall has one or more volunteer student “Energy Captains” who educate and motivate their fellow students to lessen their ecological footprint, especially their energy and water use. The three buildings that reduce their energy and water consumption the most win a cash prize to their building fund ($300 for 1st prize, $200 for 2nd, and $100 for 3rd), bragging rights, a cool student-made trophy that moves from winning building to winning building each semester, and peace of mind!
The combined savings of the October 25 - November 22, 2006, Challenge and the March 20 - April 17, 2007, Challenge by all UNH residence halls and apartments was 299,193 kilowatt hours in electricity and $40,000 in energy and water costs. These savings are equivalent to reducing 189 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents - or the emissions reduction equivalent of not driving 41 passenger cars for one year or of 440 barrels of oil. (Equivalency calculations were made using the U.S. Climate Technolgoy Cooperation Gateway's Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.)
CALLING ALL UNH FRATERNITIES & SORORITIES! The UNH Panhellenic Council has set up an official Greek Energy Challenge II to take place this fall at the same time as the Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge in the residence halls and on-campus apartments: October 24 - November 21! This year's winner will receive $200 worth of food from JP's Eatery to be put towards their philanthropic event! During Greek Energy Challenge I, held in Spring 2007, 5 sororities competed and the winner received $200 to put towards their philanthropy efforts. Overall, the sororities saved just over $800 in energy costs.
- Read the official Challenge rules.
- Find out who your Energy Captain is!
- Learn more about the Greek Energy Challenge!
- See the Spring 2007 winners!
- See the Fall 2006 winners!
UNH Energy Task Force
The UNH Energy Task Force (ETF) was established in the fall of 2005. Chaired by the UNH Vice President for Research and coordinated by the UNH Office of Sustainability and the UNH Energy Office, the ETF has faculty, administrative, staff, and both undergraduate and graduate student members from a wide variety of departments and offices on campus. The ETF serves in an advisory capacity to the UNH President and is responsible for making recommendations on the full range of issues that relate to energy use, including generation, demand management, efficiency, conservation, greenhouse gas mitigation policy and action, and participation in markets related to energy and carbon. Recommendations are formulated taking into account the teaching, research, and public service missions of the University and its long-range Campus Master Plan, UNH’s signing of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (PCC), and the energy needs of faculty, staff, students, and campus visitors. The overarching goal of the ETF is to guide the university toward a systemic and integrated energy policy that emphasizes health and integrity, climate protection and carbon neutrality, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and stability, fairness for all University constituents, consistency with priorities set by the Academic Plan and the Master Plan, and a focus on both the supply and demand characteristics of energy use. In particular, the ETF is charged with: (1) developing immediate and future actions to reduce energy costs and improve energy conservation through technological improvements, increases in efficiency, reductions in waste, and selection of fuels at the Durham campus, and (2) inventorying and promoting educational and outreach programs intended to increase awareness of and behaviors around energy use, efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change.
UNH Transportation Policy Committee (TPC)
The UNH Transportation Policy Committee (TPC) serves in an advisory capacity to the UNH President, making recommendations on the full range of issues that relate to transportation management at UNH, including parking policy and transit services. Chaired by the UNH Vice President of Finance & Administration and comprised of members from across the entire campus, the overarching goal of the TPC is to guide the university toward a systemic transportation system that is consistent with priorities set by the UNH Academic Plan and the UNH Campus Master Plan and that maximizes mobility and accessibility in a climate education framework that emphasizes health and safety, efficiency, cost effectiveness, equity, and sustainability.
WildCAP - UNH's Climate Action Plan
Through our campus-wide Energy Task Force, UNH is developing a a climate action plan called "WildCAP" to reduce UNH’s greenhouse gas emissions in fulfillment of the requirements of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The plan will be developed and in place by November 2009. The goals are to
- Maximize emissions reductions as soon as possible to reduce climate impacts.
- Maximize cost savings through reduced energy consumption.
- Develop a plan with broad-based support across the UNH community to ensure smooth implementation, willingness to invest in energy saving projects, and participation in energy-saving behavioral changes.
- Maintain UNH’s leadership position in campus climate action.
- Develop opportunities to highlight UNH climate action to internal and external stakeholders and funders.
- Integrate operational and behavior savings efforts with existing or new curricula and research where possible.
