Gary Hawley, left, a professor in UVM's Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources, speaks with students about the green roof on the George D. Aiken Center. Photo courtesy University of Vermont
Certification of Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Headquarters follows 20 years of strategic planning and green innovation
Vermont Business Magazine The George D. Aiken Center, home of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont, has officially become a net zero energy building. Located next to the Davis Center on UVM’s central campus, the Aiken Center now produces as much or more energy than it uses on an annual basis.
“Years ago, our Rubenstein School community envisioned a living building that would allow us to have a smaller carbon footprint and demonstrate our collective commitment to a more sustainable world,” said Allan Strong, Interim Dean of the Rubenstein School. “Thanks to the unwavering commitment of our faculty, students, and key staff, we’ve reached the major milestone of net zero energy status.”
In 2016, the Rubenstein School and UVM’s Office of Sustainability commissioned VEIC, a clean energy consulting firm, to develop a Zero Energy Framework that could be used to evaluate progress toward the net zero goal.
The purpose of the report was to identify a path forward to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The achievement of net zero energy is the result of student leadership and great partnerships, both on and beyond campus.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the success of the Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont in achieving the first net zero building on campus,” said Adam Sherman, Senior Consultant at VEIC. “Decarbonizing buildings is a critical piece of achieving our vision of ‘healthy planet, thriving people.’ This is an important step forward for UVM and Vermont.”
“This was a collective effort that could not have been accomplished without Burlington Electric Department (BED), Vermont Gas Systems (VGS), our university engineers, and our students,” said Elizabeth Palchak, Director of Sustainability at UVM. “This aligns with our goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 and the direction of our Comprehensive Sustainability Plan. It’s an exciting mark of progress for UVM.”
“BED congratulates UVM for this fantastic project and for partnering with us on optimizing the energy efficiency of the Aiken Center and helping move Burlington one step closer to our Net Zero Energy City goal,” stated Chris Burns, BED Director of Energy Services. “This is one of dozens of energy efficiency projects that UVM and BED have partnered on over several decades. Energy efficiency work continues to be a win-win for both organizations, the local economy, and the community. Thank you, UVM, for being such a great community partner.”
Each spring for the past 22 years, undergraduate students have teamed up with faculty and staff in the Rubenstein School to take on energy-saving and green innovation projects in the Aiken Center and across all Rubenstein School buildings and operations. Research Associate Gary Hawley ’78 G ’82 has championed these initiatives for 20 years. He has engaged and mentored hundreds of UVM students in building sustainability and energy efficiency. In recent semesters students completed multiple projects to map the path to net zero energy for the Rubenstein School.
“The students are passionate about this work and their ideas have driven the greening of Aiken efforts that have led us to this exciting achievement,” Hawley said. “Our continued pursuit of net zero energy operations and spaces across the university is a crucial sustainability effort.”
Jack Locker ’24 conducted an extensive analysis during a Net Zero Energy internship sponsored by UVM’s Sustainable Campus Fund and worked closely with the Office of Sustainability and Gary Hawley during the summer of 2022 to organize, verify, and present the School’s progress on net zero. To achieve this milestone, he worked closely with UVM engineers, BED, and VGS to analyze the thermal and electricity loads of the Aiken Center.
The Aiken Center was built in 1982 and reconstructed in 2012. The building earned U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum status—their highest rank—following the renovation, which introduced numerous energy- and water-saving measures. Not only did the reconstruction make the building more energy efficient, but it also created a learning and working environment inspired by the natural world. Each floor of the Aiken Center represents the earth, from the ground floor comprised of locally-harvest wood, to the green roof which houses eight watersheds to filter and repurpose rainwater.
UVM has a solar tracker next to the Aiken Center and seventeen additional solar trackers on Spear Street in Burlington, VT. Combined, they generate close to 150,000 kWh annually. The renewable energy credits (RECs) associated with these solar panels are part of the Aiken Center’s path to net zero.
To achieve net zero, UVM took several key steps, outlined in the framework provided by VEIC, including:
- Quantified baseline energy use.
- Conducted retro-commissioning studies to identify opportunities for energy efficiency and improved building performance.
- Allocated RECs from UVM’s solar installations to cover the electricity load.
- Utilized market mechanisms to mitigate the remaining emissions from thermal load. The Rubenstein School will purchase renewable natural gas (RNG) from VGS, making this the first time UVM has purchased RNG.
“Identifying and implementing cost-effective solutions to decarbonize is key to making progress toward Vermont's climate goals,” said VGS President & CEO Neale Lunderville. “Renewable natural gas is an important solution in a suite of options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. VGS and UVM have a strong partnership, and we’re thrilled to support this achievement in the Aiken Center.”
Over the next year, UVM will verify the net zero energy status of the Aiken Center using the LEED Zero Energy certification process. Students will continue to be heavily involved in this process, creating an invaluable opportunity for experiential learning in a “living laboratory.”
About the University of Vermont
Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. UVM’s strengths align with the most pressing needs of our time: the health of our societies and the health of our environment. Our size—large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet intimate enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study—allows us to pursue these interconnected issues through cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. Providing an unparalleled educational experience for our students, and ensuring their success, are at the core of what we do. As one of the nation’s first land grant universities, UVM advances Vermont and the broader society through the discovery and application of new knowledge.
“UVM” is an abbreviation of the Latin Universitas Viridis Montis (in English, University of the Green Mountains).
Source: 10.3.2023. BURLINGTON — UVM
