Submitted by Puget Sound Energy
Just in time for back-to-school, The Evergreen State College is getting major upgrades to its campus with more than $1.3 million in an energy efficiency grant from Puget Sound Energy. Evergreen is a public liberal arts and sciences college located on a 1,000-acre campus located in Olympia. The upgrades are expected to help the college save energy and money on its bills.
“These energy and cost-saving measures are just one of the many ways that Evergreen supports environmental sustainability,” said chief administrative officer William Ward. “The dollars saved from these projects will be reallocated to provide more programs, services and activities for our students now and into the future.”
One of the main upgrades included a retrofit of the college’s Lab 1 building, which is a 70,500 square-foot facility that houses laboratory, instructional and office spaces. The retrofit included the installation of higher efficiency fans and a new heat recovery system.
The Evergreen State College also received a major upgrade on its existing steam heating plant and steam distribution systems. The project included replacing existing steam traps and condensate receiver sumps, installing a new surge tank and deaeration tank steam vent heat recovery unit. These energy conservation measures will yield an anticipated savings of over 141,000 therms, which is the equivalent of heating 235 homes in a year.
“When we can work with our customers like The Evergreen State College to save energy through our energy efficiency programs and grants, it’s a win-win,” said PSE Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Strategy Adrian Rodriguez. “Partnering with our customers is key to address climate change since it’s an issue that can’t be tackled alone. Plus, our customers are able to meet their own sustainability goals while saving money in the process.”
In January 2021, PSE set its aspirational “Beyond Net Zero Carbon” energy company goal. Through this initiative, PSE targets reduction of its own carbon emissions to net zero and goes beyond by helping other sectors to enable carbon reduction across the state of Washington.
Check out video of the upgrades here.
