Boston Globe
Summary
In downtown Boston, Emerson College is slated to become the first college in the nation to partner with what’s called a district energy provider to heat all its buildings with renewable energy.
“These kinds of innovations are exciting and another example of Boston being ahead of the green curve,” said Holly Samuelson, a faculty member at Harvard’s Center for Green Buildings and Cities and Graduate School of Design architecture professor.
Emerson, which has its own climate goals to reach by 2030, is working with Vicinity Energy, the country’s largest district energy operator. Its heating operations pipe steam underground to buildings across the city, a 19th-century technology with a 21st-century twist: Wind turbines will soon generate much of the electricity that powers the system.
“If you want to change how each one of the buildings is heated, you don’t have to change it on a building-by-building basis. You simply change the technology back at the central plant,” said Kevin Hagerty, Vicinity’s president and CEO. “Much in the same way the plant went from coal to oil to natural gas, we’re now at the next inflection point.”
The company became an industry leader in renewable steam when it installed its first electric boiler in Kendall Square earlier this year. The gigantic boiler, which Hagerty said can produce enough energy to eliminate carbon emissions from “about 30 Prudential towers,” is expected to turn on late next month.
When it launches this fall, the technology is expected to help eliminate at least a third of the remaining greenhouse emissions Emerson has pledged to get rid of in the next six years.
“I’m hoping we’ll be able to set a good example for other urban colleges and universities,” said Jennifer Lamy, Emerson’s sustainability director. “If we can support this by being a first-mover customer, then we’re acting in the interest of the broader Boston area.”
Continue Reading
#News#Content#MemberNewsIDEA#DistrictEnergy#VicinityEnergy