³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ is being recognized for its sustainability efforts by the (AASHE) in the organization’s , which highlights innovative and high-impact initiatives from colleges and universities based on data collected from AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) report in the most recent calendar year.
"Congratulations to ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ College for their incredible work in creating a more sustainable world," said AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Upon reading the innovative and high-impact sustainability initiatives within this report, I’m encouraged that the future we all need will soon be realized.”
AASHE recognized ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ as a top performer in the “air and climate” and “public engagement” categories and includes the College among institutions earning an overall gold rating.
³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ achieved carbon neutrality two years ahead of schedule in 2018, the same year it launched, along with four other institutions, the New England College Renewable Partnership, which is bringing online a utility-scale solar power facility that will create enough electricity to power about 17,000 New England homes.
³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ has also entered agreements with numerous other Maine solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities scheduled to come online in the next two years, including a collaborative project with Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, and Williams colleges in Farmington, Maine, and a second large solar array on college-owned property at Brunswick Landing, the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick.
The first, developed in 2014 with Solar City, includes rooftop PV systems on ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿'s Farley Field House and Sidney J. Watson Arena.
By the end of 2023, all projects contracted by ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿ are expected to be online and producing power, covering 100% of current electric usage with Maine-based renewable energy.
STARS, developed by AASHE with broad participation from the higher education community, is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.
