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Path Toward Carbon Neutrality Just 11 years ago, nearly all the buildings on Miami University’s Oxford campus were heated and cooled by a coal-fed steam plant behind Western’s Peabody Hall. Today, that number is under half at 49%. By 2026, nearly all buildings will be off steam and instead be heated and cooled either by geothermal energy, simultaneous heating and cooling (SHC), or heating hot water (HHW). In addition, between 2019 and 2026, the Oxford campus will save 18 million gallons of water a year due to its change in energy systems. To underline the university’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving carbon neutrality as soon as possible, Miami President Greg Crawford last year signed Second Nature’s Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments. By 2019, Miami had already achieved a reduction in carbon emissions from purchased electricity, natural gas, and coal of 52% per gross square foot since 2008, thanks to the Utility Master Plan, approved in 2012 and updated in 2017. A major component of Miami’s commitment to sustainability has been underfoot for some time, beginning in 2011 when the newly renovated Elliott and Stoddard residence halls were switched from coal-fired steam heat to geothermal. Within a few years, the two oldest buildings on campus showed a 61% decrease in energy consumption, even after air conditioning was
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added. This performance was 20% better than projected. Pumping water through buried wells, geothermal energy systems tap into the Earth’s temperatures underground, which stay nearly constant around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, extracting heat in cooler weather and dissipating heat during warmer times. When Miami was building the three residence halls and accompanying dining hall on Western, all of which opened in 2014, more than 300 geothermal wells were installed to heat and cool those buildings. Higher initial costs — the well field, heating/cooling plant, and hot-water distribution system — were quickly recovered through low operation and maintenance costs. Because it is a closed-loop system, it drastically reduces Miami’s water consumption and chemical use associated with cooling. Within the next four years, 735 wells are expected to provide heating and cooling to all of Western campus. Miami’s geothermal heating and cooling project is the largest among Ohio colleges and universities. Converting campus energy systems away from fossil-fuelpowered steam to systems that are powered by electricity increases the opportunities to purchase renewable electricity off the grid, such as wind or solar power. “This work is necessary in order to achieve a carbon neutral campus,” said Adam Sizemore, director of Sustainability.
The Physical Facilities Department (PFD) initiated two studies to inform decision making to achieve carbon neutrality: A solar-energy study with HEAPY Engineering and a net zero study with MEP Associates/ Salas O’Brien (results expected later this fall).
GREEN FACTS
Miami’s Institute for Food Farm helps support the Food Systems and Food Studies co-major and a communitysupported agriculture program, while Dining Services is exploring ways to help reduce post-consumer food waste using the new GET Mobile foodordering app implemented during the beginning of the pandemic.
The Student Sustainability Council was formed in 2019 as an umbrella for leadership of all student sustainability-oriented organizations.