Connecticut College awarded $40,000 grant to establish student-led program for energy conservation
Connecticut College has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Dominion Foundation to establish an innovative learning program for students to reduce energy consumption at the College. The funds will support an energy monitoring program for five buildings on campus, as well as a leadership program to train students about energy conservation strategies and community-based social marketing. In addition, the funds will provide additional leadership training for selected students to serve as energy conservation interns during the summer. "The College community is currently working on a sustainability strategic plan, which identifies energy conservation as one of the major challenges for the campus community," said Josh Stoffel, manager for sustainability, who will oversee the project. "Students, staff and faculty are all keenly interested in reducing the College's energy consumption and have been working collaboratively to develop new strategies to achieve this goal." Connecticut College has already taken many steps to decrease energy consumption by tracking greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, retrofitting buildings for enhanced energy efficiency, adjusting building automation systems for energy conservation, employing educational campus campaigns for conservation and identifying needs for improvement. "The grant from the Dominion Foundation will support these efforts and will lead to measurable reductions in energy consumption within the five targeted buildings over the course of the program," Stoffel said. "It will encourage and inspire students from across the campus community to become more actively involved in issues of sustainability." The Dominion Higher Educational Partnership is a competitive grant program for private and public institutions in targeted areas of New England and several other states where Dominion has business interest. Dominion owns and operates Millstone Power Station located in Waterford, Conn. This year, the program received nearly $5 million in requests from institutions in all of the 10 eligible states. Successful proposals were selected based on innovation, practical application and broad impact on the campus community and beyond.
October 18, 2012