Cape Cod Community College wins 'Leading By Example' award for green initiatives
Cape Cod Community College received a "Leading By Example" Award from Gov. Charlie Baker at the Statehouse Tuesday for several campus initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs.
The award recognized the overarching net-zero energy strategy on the part of the college administration, which has led to several green initiatives on campus. Collectively, sustainability projects on campus have led to a 67% decrease in greenhouse emissions compared with a 2004 baseline, spokesperson Patrick Stone said Friday.
Those projects include the recently opened zero-net energy Frank and Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center, which is now the centerpiece of the campus, and the 25.7-kilowatt solar panels that were part of the construction of the LEED Gold-certified Lyndon P. Lorusso Applied Technology Center in 2006, Stone said.
The college is also home to the commercial application of the Gates Foundation’s “toilet of the future” that President John Cox said last week may reduce nitrogen flowing into Cape Cod's water system.
“In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation put out a global competition to redesign the toilet," he said in October. "Toilets' basic design hasn’t changed in a century. The winning proposal was from Cal Tech. It’s a closed-loop electrolysis system. It recycles a lot of the waste (into fertilizer) and recycles the water. This is the first application of the toilet in North America.”
New housing:5 Cape Cod developments you may not have heard about
Next year, the college plans to install a 635-kilowatt solar canopy on the West Barnstable campus, Stone said.
The 16th annual "Leading By Example" awards were presented at the Statehouse in Boston. Seven state, municipal and private entities received awards for reducing greenhouse gases in their operations and reducing energy costs. The statewide awards program is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.
“I am proud of the significant contributions public sector leaders at the state and local level have made to Massachusetts’ ambitious climate and clean energy goals,” Baker said in a news release. “Today, we celebrated the achievements of these individuals and municipal and state entities who are on the ground doing hard work to combat climate change, lower energy use and costs and attain a clean energy future.”
Offshore wind:Commonwealth Wind is applying for permits. Here's what it is doing in Barnstable.
In addition to Cox, Joe MacKinnon, the college's director of facilities, and Chris Clark, vice president of finance and operations, attended the ceremony, Stone said,
The "Leading by Example" program has collectively reduced greenhouse gas emissions statewide by 40% versus a 2004 baseline, according to the department of energy website. In addition, the use of fuel oils has been reduced by more than 89%, more than 300 charging stations for electric vehicles have been installed along with 35 megawatts of solar energy on state lands.
“Our college is uniquely positioned on Cape Cod, surrounded and empowered by the environment and ocean around us," Cox said in a news release. "We take this responsibility to preserve our environment seriously and it’s reflected all around us on our campus."
Stay connected with Cape Cod news, sports, restaurants and breaking news. Download our free app.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Community College wins state award for green energy projects
