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Summary
Smith College will break ground in May on a bold geothermal campus energy project that will lower the college's carbon emissions by 90 percent, allowing Smith to become carbon neutral by 2030.
The project will replace the college's aging, fossil-fuel-fired steam heating system with a state-of-the-art, electrically powered geothermal system. This will make Smith one of only a handful of schools in the nation—and likely the first in New England—to achieve net-zero carbon emissions through the near elimination of on-campus fossil fuel combustion rather than through other means, such as carbon offsets or biofuel conversion.
The project is the culmination of years of work by students, staff, faculty and trustees, including those who served on the college's Study Group on Climate Change and District Energy Working Group. Smith first began using geothermal energy in 2019, when the college undertook a pilot project that involved heating and cooling the college's field house.
"It is a moral imperative for Smith College to do its part in mitigating the devastating effects of climate change on our planet. As such, I am enormously proud of the decision by the Smith College Board of Trustees to approve the Geothermal Campus Energy Project," said President Kathleen McCartney. "This project will enable the college to reach our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. I am exceedingly grateful to those who served on the District Energy Working Group for their hard work, which resulted in the analyses that informed this historic decision."
Design and construction are being undertaken in partnership with Salas O'Brien, the largest geothermal planning and engineering design practice in North America, and with construction management firm BOND Building, a fifth-generation construction and civil and utility general contracting firm with specific expertise in district energy.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
News release: Smith to Break Ground on Geothermal Energy Project that will Enable Carbon Neutrality by 2030
FAQ: Smith's Geothermal Energy Project: Frequently Asked Questions
Feature story: ‘Modeling what Carbon Neutrality Really Means’
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