Strategy
Four Principles of Decarbonization
Dartmouth’s energy strategy centers around four main principles. We are drastically reducing our energy consumption, changing the way we distribute heat to buildings, implementing new geo-exchange and solar thermal technologies, and transitioning to zero-carbon electricity sources. We will also upgrade campus electrical systems and back-up generators to make the whole system resilient against shocks in the grid.
1. Reduce Energy Demand
We are continuously reducing energy use in buildings through a wide array of energy conservation projects including LED lighting, heat recovery, building controls upgrades and other improvements. These projects have helped Dartmouth reduce its emissions by about 30% since 2010.
2. Steam to Hot Water Transition
We will replace all steam distribution piping with new hot water piping, which is a much more efficient way to distribute heat from the central plant to campus buildings. Steam will also be eliminated from building heating systems, in addition to other energy efficiency improvements.
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3. Carbon-Free Heat Sources
Transitioning to hot water enables the use of geo-exchange heat pumps which capture “waste” heat from the chilled water system and transfer it directly into the heating system. The system deposits excess heat into the ground in summer or withdrawn in winter via geo-exchange bore fields. Thermal storage tanks and solar thermal panels will provide additional combustion-free heating and cooling capacity.
4. Zero-Carbon Electricity
We will utilize zero-carbon electricity sources, through a combination of on campus renewable electricity technology and procured off-site renewable electricity sources, to power the heat pumps, hot water pumps, and other campus electrical systems.
More about how it works
Geo-Exchange
Geo-exchange is a highly efficient technology that is part of an updated system that helps heat and cool campus buildings.
Technologies
These decarbonization components will work together to efficiently meet energy needs, provide necessary backups, and ensure our buildings and systems run efficiently.
Steam to Hot Water Transition
To use technologies like geo-exchange, we are updating piping that routes heating and cooling throughout campus.