Success stories 
Accomplishments To Date
- September 2008: UNH gives students living in on-campus residence halls a bright welcome to the new semester with free compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) for their desk lamps. A coalition of UNH offices, coordinated by the university's Energy Task Force, distributed 1,720 energy-saving CFLs to students, eliminating the need for less-efficient incandescent bulbs. The CFLs are estimated to save the university $17,250 in energy costs; their greenhouse gas reduction will be the equivalent of not driving 11.3 passenger cars for one year. Learn more...
- August 2008: UNH is named one of the top 25 cutting-edge green schools by the 2009 Kaplan College Guide. Produced by Kaplan Publishing, the Guide features 25 green private and public colleges from across the nation, including a look inside the classroom, around campus, and at student life, while shining a spotlight on what's good for the globe at each college. The Guide also profiles 10 hot green careers – from environmental engineering to geothermal development – and includes interviews with professionals from each. The green schools and careers profiles are not rankings. Instead, they give students interested in sustainability and conservation well-researched ideas and a cross-section of options. Learn more...
- July 2008: UNH is named one of 11 universities nationwide to receive the top score in a new "Green Rating" of colleges by The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review collected data from 534 schools in the 2007 - 08 academic year to tally numerical scores from 60 to 99 that measure how environmentally friendly schools are in their policies, practices and academic offerings. UNH, with a perfect score of 99, is on The Princeton Review's "Green Honor Roll." Learn more...
- June 2008: With a $50,000 Climate Ready Estuaries grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) at UNH is initiating a pilot project in the Oyster River watershed to identify road culverts that are subject to failure during the increasingly extreme storm events projected for New England by climate change scientists. The NHEP is partnering with the Town of Durham and the Strafford Regional Planning Commission on a comprehensive inventory of most major road-stream culverts throughout the Oyster River watershed, including portions of the towns of Durham, Madbury, Dover, Lee, and Barrington. The project team will then develop recommendations for culvert improvements based on risk analysis and cost estimates. In this way, the project will demonstrate to public works staff, road agents, and other community stakeholders how climate change is expected to impact an important component of community infrastructure and safety, while providing an action plan to make improvements. The results of this watershed-based storm impact modeling pilot project will be shared with other area communities as well as the other 27 National Estuary Programs across the country. Learn more...
- June 2008: UNH is one of a select group of signatories to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) whose innovative climate and energy leadership is highlighted in the ACUPCC's 2007 annual report (PDF) and campus success stories summary (PDF).
- June 2008: UNH researchers received a significant grant to study UNH's organic dairy research farm as a sustainable closed agroecosystem, exploring viable strategies for becoming energy independent. The $380,000 three-year grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) program, aims to explore whether closing energy and nutrient cycles could help small family dairy farms in the Northeast survive economic vulnerabilities. The study comes as rising energy, feed and capital investment costs shrink the already narrow profit margin of dairy agriculture in the Northeast, threatening the regional sustainability of the industry. "In a closed system, the only thing leaving the farm is the milk," says John Aber, professor of natural resources at UNH and the principal investigator on the grant. "The goal is to see whether we can have a closed-nutrient-cycle and energy-independent organic dairy." Learn more...
- March 2008: UNH WildCat Transit won the Federal Transit Administration "Success in Enhancing Ridership Award" in the 50,000 to 200,000 population category. Wildcat Transit was recognized for its efforts in getting at least 5% more passengers per year over a two-year period; UNH has used better traveler information, nicer bus shelters (with solar power lighting), a website with regularly updated transit and parking information, and new biodiesel transit buses to increase ridership by 21 percent.
- March 2008: In March 2008, UNH received the top honor in Business NH Magazine's first-ever Lean and Green Awards. UNH led the winners with the Overall Judges Award, which recognizes the school's extensive sustainable practices, from its cogeneration plant and reuse of purified landfill gas to power the Durham campus to transitioning its extensive public transit system to alternative fuels. "This Lean and Green Award further recognizes that sustainability is one of UNH's core identities and strengths," says UNH President Mark W. Huddleston. "I'm proud of our motivated and engaged faculty, staff, and students who work together in new and innovative ways to advance this common goal." Judges for the competition, which drew entries from around the state and from a wide range of industries, were Thomas Burack, commissioner of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services; Margaret Dillon, a board member of the N.H. Sustainable Energy Association and president of S.E.E.D.S., Sustainable Energy Education & Demonstration Services; and Ami D'Amelio, a board member of N.H. Businesses for Social Responsibility. Other winners were Abigail's Bakery in Weare, Bruss Construction in Bradford, Wire Belt Company of America in Londonderry, and Monadnock Paper Mills in Bennington (Green Processing awards); New Hampshire Audobon's McLane Center in Concord (Green Building award); and the BioVu line of inks produced by EFI VUTEk in Meredith (Green Product or Service). Learn more...
- January 2008: In the 2008 National Wildlife Federation report "Higher Education in a Warming World: The Business Case for Climate Leadership on Campus," UNH figures prominently among the 100-plus schools cited for responding to global warming with best-practice strategies. UNH is the only New Hampshire institution featured in the report. Learn more...
- January 2008: DeMerritt Hall -- home to the UNH physics department andcurrently undergoing renovation -- is touted for its many sustainable elements, including recycling original building materials, installing energy efficient laboratories, redesigning the building’s exterior to maximize benefits of natural daylight and cutting edge insulation details, and using florescent lighting throughout, which will use one-fifth the amount of electricity as incandescent lighting, among other features. Learn more...
- December 2007: UNH faculty, staff, and students saved approximately 279,400 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of energy, $52,000 in energy and water costs, and 140 metric ton equivalents of carbon dioxide emissions through the University’s third Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge and annual Thanksgiving “powerdown” initiative. These energy and emissions savings are the equivalent of 326 barrels of oil or not driving 30 passenger cars for one year. Learn more...
- October 2007: UNH is one of just 25 universities nationwide to achieve Campus Sustainability Leader status from the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s College Sustainability Report Card 2008, released October 24, 2007. UNH received "A" grades (on a scale of "A" through "F") in four of five campus categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, and transportation. The College Sustainability Report Card 2008 assesses the 200 U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities with the largest endowments, ranging from $230 million to nearly $35 billion (UNH’s endowment is $235 million). Learn more...
- September 2007: UNH was one of 50 colleges around the country named in KIWI Magazine’s first ‘Green College Report.’ KIWI, a magazine dedicated to helping families live natural and organic lifestyles, cited UNH for its dining and composting initiatives, its climate change focused courses, and its University Office of Sustainability, which is the nation’s longest-standing endowed university sustainability program. UNH was the only New Hampshire school included in the report. Learn more...
- August 2007: UNH President Mark Huddleston announces that the university, in cooperation with Waste Management of New Hampshire, Inc., has launched EcoLine, a landfill gas project that will pipe enriched and purified gas from Waste Management's landfill in Rochester to the Durham campus. The project will make UNH the first university in the nation to use landfill gas as its primary energy source. The renewable, carbon-neutral landfill gas, from Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise (TREE) facility in Rochester, N.H., will replace commercial natural gas as the primary fuel in UNH’s cogeneration plant, enabling UNH to receive 80-85 percent of its energy from a renewable source. Part of UNH's commitment to sustainability, the landfill gas will stabilize the university’s fluctuating energy costs, which have doubled in the last five years and grown at an annual rate of 18.9 percent, and will also have a major impact on UNH’s carbon dioxide emissions. It will reduce the university’s greenhouse gas emissions an estimated 67 percent below 2005 levels and 57 percent below 1990 levels. Read the August 2007 press release.
- July 2007: President Mark Huddleston announced in July 2007 the elevation of the University Office of Sustainability (UOS) to strengthen its across-campus mission and reflect its leadership role in continuing the university’s national visibility in sustainability. Along with its move to the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, the office’s founding director, Tom Kelly, will assume the role of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) for the university. “Sustainability is now recognized as one of UNH’s core identities and strengths with faculty, staff, and students from many disciplines working together in new and innovative ways to advance a common goal,” said Huddleston. “The role of the chief sustainability officer is to help ensure that we are considering every strategic opportunity to unite the spirit of discovery with the challenge of sustainability across our land, sea and space grant mission.” Read the Campus Journal July 2007 article.
- July 2007: Once again, the UNH Office of Sustainability partners with Proulx Oil & Propane of Newmarket to offer renewable home heating - bioheat (20% biodiesel, 80% home heating oil) - to UNH employees and students. Proulx will also donate $5 from each bioheat contract signed to both the fund established to support the daughters of former UNH Office of Sustainability associate director -- and great supporter of renewable energy -- Crescentia Healy-True, who passed away in 2006 from breast cancer, and the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge, a non-profit group located at UNH and dedicated to helping New Hampshire households reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 pounds per year. (Take the Challenge at carbonchallenge.sr.unh.edu.)
- June 2007: Year three of WildCAP is in full swing! Order your ENERGY STAR and ENERGY STAR equivalent compact fridges, compact microwaves, and compact fluorescent light bulbs by August 24th to have them ready for pickup during student move-in days for Fall 2007!
- May/June 2007: Released two new and/or updated documents on biodiesel at UNH:
- April 2007: Worked with the UNH Transportation Policy Committee to conduct two large surveys of the UNH community to assess and influence transportation issues at UNH.
- April 20, 2007: Hosted EPA New England Administrator Robert Varney, NH Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Thomas Burack, and other officials from the Office of NH Governor John Lynch for for Earth Day events celebrating UNH receiving five new EPA ENERGY STAR Building Awards, the winners of the Spring 2007 Energy Waste Watch Challenge, and local school children, teachers, and parents participating in the "Durham, It's Where U Live" Program annual Green Up.
- April 2007: Five UNH buildings -- residence halls Randall-Hitchcock, Sawyer, and Jessie Doe; buildings P, Q and R of the Woodside Apartment Complex; and administrative building Taylor Hall -- achieved the U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR efficiency rating, bringing UNH's total number of ENERGY STAR rated buildings to 8. These awards were presented by EPA New England Administrator Robert Varney at UNH's 2007 Earth Day Celebrations. Varney acknowledged the work of students in Professor Ihab Farag's chemical engineering class "Energy and the Environment," who worked with the UNH Energy Office to conduct energy audits of the building using EPA software. UNH was the first institution of higher education in the nation to receive ENERGY STAR ratings for residence halls.
- April 2007: For the third year in a row, UNH students won the prestigious overall Intel Innovation Award at the 17th Annual International Environmental Design Contest (EDC). At the April 2007 EDC held at New Mexico State University, UNH students also won first place in their task: their innovative design and project converts farm manure to electricity!
- March 20 - April 17, 2007: Hosted the Spring 2007 round of the Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge! During the four-week competition among residence halls and apartments to reduce each building's per capita energy and water consumption, in total UNH residence halls and apartments saved 173,990 kilowatt hours in electricity for an electricity cost savings of $22,000. Savings were equivalent in emissions reductions to removing 17 passenger cars from the road for one year. Englehart Hall won first place, Smith took second and Sawyer won third. Winners were announced at UNH's 2007 Earth Day Celebrations by Thomas Burack, NH Department of Environmental Services Commissioner, and John Aber, UNH Vice President for Research and Chair of the Energy Task Force.
- February 15, 2007: In February 2007, UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, adding UNH to the leadership circle of colleges and universities committed to climate neutrality, significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and education and research on climate change. UNH is the first New England land-grant university to sign the Commitment and in a leading group of more than 60 colleges and univerisities in the nation to sign. “Sustainability is part and parcel of UNH’s identity,” added John Aber, vice president of research and chair of the UNH Energy Task Force. “We are thrilled to be a part of a small group of colleges and universities that are leading the way in addressing climate change through what we teach, how we operate, what we research, and how we engage with the community.” Presidents signing the Commitment are pledging to eliminate their campuses’ greenhouse gas emissions over time and ultimately to achieving climate neutrality. This involves creating an institutional structure to guide the development and implementation of climate neutrality, completing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, setting a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral, taking immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – such as providing access to public transportation or adopting an energy-efficient appliance purchasing policy – and integrating sustainability into the curriculum. Under the guidance and direction of the leadership circle, the Commitment is being supported and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), of which UNH is a member, Second Nature, and ecoAmerica.
Read the press release about UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman signing the Presidents Climate Commitment
Learn about UNH's commitment to being a Climate Protection Campus
- December 11, 2006: UNH-Durham and its rental car providor, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, sign a voluntary pilot project agreement to offer gas-electric hybrids in the Durham rental fleet. These vehicles – which will save UNH renters money spent on fuel as well as greenhouse gas emissions – are available for a $5 daily or $20/weekly surcharge over similar gas vehicles. In addition, Enterprise will move towards selection of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified SmartWay™ vehicles as it renews the UNH rental pool fleet. Smart Way™ vehicles are designated by the EPA for high fuel efficiency and low emissions in their vehicle class.
- December 2006: UNH faculty, staff, and students save over 159,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of energy, $22,721 dollars in energy and water costs, and over 50 metric tons of emimssions of carbon dioxide equivalents through the University’s first ever Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge and its annual Thanksgiving powerdown initiative. These emissions savings are the equivalent of 116 barrels of oil or not driving 11 passengar cars for one year. Learn more!
- October 25, 2006: UNH kicks off its very first Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge in residence halls and on-campus apartments!
- October 5, 2006: The work of the ETF was the focus of a panel presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Educatioin (AASHE) 2006 Conference at Arizona State University in Tempe. The panel - entitled “Integrating Sustainability Throughout a University’s Core: A Case Study of the University of New Hampshire’s Energy and Climate Initiatives” included Tom Kelly and Sara Cleaves of the UNH Office of Sustainability, Stephen Pesci of UNH Campus Planning, and Stacy D. VanDeveer of the UNH Dept. of Political Science.
- September 28, 2006: Release of 2004-2005 update to UNH’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory, which has been tracking the Durham campus’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. DOWNLOAD THE 2004-2005 UNH GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INVENTORY UPDATE (PDF)!
- September 19, 2006, 1 PM, MUB Theater I: Presentation and research discussions with visiting scholar Dr. Duane Johnson, a biocrop and biofuel expert from Monstate State University's Agricultural Experiment Station.
- September 2006: Launch of 2006-2007 Discovery Program University Dialogue (annual campus-wide discussions and events) on energy - "Power to the People."
- September 2006: UNH releases UNH Energy Efficient Product Standard to guide faculty and staff purchasing. Educational materials and training for all USNH purchase card (p-card) holders to help them purchase ENERGY STAR equipment have also been developed to go along with this new standard.
- August 2006: UNH President Newman, Governor John Lynch, and officials from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) officially opened a new DOT biodiesel fueling facility on the Durham campus. The opening of this site marks the first use of biodiesel by DOT and UNH vehicles.
- Summer 2006: Arrival of new low emission diesel buses that meet California Air Resource Board emission standards and that UNH is commited to running on B20 biodiesel fuel.
- June 2006: WildCAP - discounts through Houghton’s ACE Hardware of Durham, Lee, and Newmarket on ENERGY STAR and energy efficient appliances and electronics for UNH students, parents, faculty, and staff, along with Durham area residents and landlords - relaunched for second year.
- June 2006: Online operation of cogeneration (COGEN) heat and power facility. The primary source of heat and electricity for the five-million square foot Durham campus, COGEN retains waste heat normally lost during the production of electricity and instead uses this energy to heat buildings, in turn reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions and saving UNH as much as $20 million in energy costs over the next 20 years. The installation of the COGEN plant resulted in an estimated reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 21% in AY2006 compared to AY 2005. UNH is now exploring using renewable landfill methane gas from the Turnkey Recycling & Environmental Enterprises landfill in Rochester, NH, as the primary fuel for the COGEN plant. The University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees has given conceptual approval for this innovative landfill gas partnership with Waste Management of Northern New England that, if realized, will result in additional energy, emissions, and cost savings for UNH. When combined with the COGEN plant, the proposed landfill gas project will lower energy costs, provide energy security, and reduce the UNH Durham campus's greenhouse gas emissions an estimated 67% below AY 2005 levels and 57% below 1990 levels while eventually providing up to 85% of UNH's energy needs. (These estimates use emission factors of a 70% Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) and 30% NEISO fuel mix, and assume a 2% annual emissions growth rate based on historical trends.)
- June 2006: Arrival of UNH's first all-electric, non-transit vehicle.
- May 2006: UNH earns first EPA ENERGY STAR rating for residence halls in the country for Congreve, Lord, and McLaughlin.
- April 2006: A roundtable discussion on how the Northeast is responding to climate change, including through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, attracts students, faculty, and staff.
- Feb/March 2006: Six new compressed natural gas shuttle buses are added to UNH’s Clean Fleet. The Clean Fleet Project includes a variety of transit improvements - from alternative fuels to cleaner technologies – all implemented with the goal of making UNH’s transit system one of the cleanest in New England.
- January 2006:
UNH designed by EPA and DOT as a “Best Workplace for Commuters” for third year in a row.
- Nov/Dec 2005: Powerdown over Thanksgiving and winter breaks results in over $20,000 saved in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions prevented equivalent to removing 30 cars from the road for one year.
- November 2005: President Ann Weaver Hart creates Energy Task Force.
- Prior to November 2005 and ongoing today: Ranked by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) (PDF) in the top 5% of universities in its peer group for energy efficiency, UNH has conducted an on-going energy efficiency program for over 25 years. According to ORNL benchmarking done in 2000, the average energy use itensity (EUI) of research facilities was 285 kilo British Thermal Units (kBtu) per square foot of space; UNH was at 181 kBtu with just over five million square feet of ground space. As a result of this energy efficiency, on average UNH saves over 520,000 MMBTU per year - or approximately $4 - 5 million per year at Fiscal Year 2007 energy prices. For example, if UNH consumed energy at the mean rate for its peer group of higher education institutions, we would have spent $10 million for energy during Fiscal Year 2000. However, because of our ongoing energy efficiency programs we actually spent only $6 million during that time, resulting in a yearly savings of $4 million - not to mention preventing emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants!
Future Plans
- Continued expansion of UNH suite of clean technology and alternative fuel vehicles.
- Standards for vehicle selection, including fuel efficiency and emission standards, for all University purchased vehicles
- More educational campaigns on computer power management and powerdown.
- Use of recaptured methane from Turnkey landfill in meeting campus energy needs.
- Conversion of dining area waste vegetable oil into biodiesel to fuel off-road farm equipment and to heat greenhouses and other farm buildings.
- Renovation of James Hall into a more sustainable building that will serve as a campus-wide model for other renovation and construction projects.
- Continued lighting retrofits and upgrades and other energy efficiency improvements in buildings on campus.
- More classes related to energy and climate - from “Energy and the Environment” (ChE 401) to the new Discovery Program Inquiry course “Science, Policy and Climate Change" to “Climate Change and Health” (part of the MPH program at UNH-Manchester) to PhD fellowships in Sustainable Engineering.
- Continuation of semester competitions of the UNH Student Energy Waste Watch Challenge in residence halls and on-campus apartments.