Green Power Partnership
Partner Profile
| Auraria Higher Education Center | |
| Location | Denver, CO |
| Organization Type | Education (Higher) |
| Percentage Green Power | 90.5% |
| Purchasing Third-Party Certified Green Power Product? | Yes |
| Organization-wide Purchase | Yes |
Environmental Web Page  | |
| Partner Profile Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) houses over 40,000 students from three higher education institution that share our campus: the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and University of Colorado at Denver. AHEC is purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) equal to all of its electrical power needs (based on FY09 levels). AHEC entered a three-year contract with a national REC marketer for more than 40 million kWh of RECs sourced annually from national wind energy projects. Since 2004, students have paid an additional fee to fund a variety of sustainability programs. In 2007, the students voted overwhelmingly in favor of renewing and expanding the Sustainable Campus Program (SCP), which included the 3-year REC contract. The SCP has also launched a recycling program that has reduced campus waste by over 35% campus wide and funded numerous energy and water efficiency projects on campus implemented in concert with AHEC staff. In addition to extending the SCP program for an additional four years during the 2011 campus elections, the SCP also successfully installed a 45kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system on-site as well. These projects, in addition to the wind REC / green power purchase all fit within the larger goal of the SCP which is to reduce the campus’ dependence on fossil fuels and to reduce the ecological impact of the Auraria Campus overall while improving campus life for all students, faculty and staff. | |