The Ivy League, led by the University of Pennsylvania, topped the Environmental Protection Agency's College and University Green Power Challenge that recognizes collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power purchases in the nation.
The Ivy League's combined annual usage of more than 225 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) has the equivalent environmental impact of avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of nearly 31,000 vehicles. Contributing schools include the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Yale University/School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. This is the fourth year in a row that the Ivy League won the championship crown.
To be listed, a conference must have at least one Green Power Partner and an aggregate green power purchase of at least 10 million kWh across the conference.
Spread across 26 athletic conferences, 54 universities competed in this year's challenge. The challenge's total annual green power usage of more than 1 billion kWh prevented the CO2 emissions equivalent to nearly 160,000 vehicles.
The EPA plans to kick-off the 2010-2011 Green Power Challenge this week (April 19).
Individual Conference Champions for 2009-2010 include the following:
-- University of Pennsylvania (Ivy League)
-- Pennsylvania State (Big Ten Conference)
-- Carnegie Mellon (University Athletic Association)
-- Oregon State University (Pacific-10 Conference)
-- University of Utah (Mountain West Conference)
-- University of California -- Santa Cruz (Association of Division III Independents)
-- Colby College (New England Small College Athletic Conference)
-- Southern Oregon University (Cascade Collegiate Conference)
-- Adelphi University (Northeast-10 Conference)
-- Western Washington University (Great Northwest Athletic Conference)
--Dickinson College (Centennial Conference)
-- Santa Clara University (West Coast Conference)
-- University of Oklahoma (Lone Star Conference)
-- University of Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
-- Syracuse University (Big East Conference)
-- St. Mary's College of Maryland (Capital Athletic Conference)
-- The Catholic University of America (Landmark Conference)
-- University at Buffalo (Mid-American Conference)
-- Pacific Lutheran University (Northwest Conference)
-- American University (Patriot League)
-- Rowan University (New Jersey Athletic Conference)
-- Duquesne University (Atlantic 10 Conference)
-- University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
-- Drexel University (Colonial Conference)
-- Oberlin College (North Coast Athletic Conference)
-- University of Colorado at Boulder (Big Twelve Conference)
Click here for a list of the 2009-2010 winners by conference.
Some of these same colleges also earned top grades on the Sustainable Endowments Institute's 2010 College Sustainability Report Card.
Colleges across the nation continue to address climate change issues on campus. As examples, both the New York University (NYU) and the Johns Hopkins University released climate action plans this year that set goals for reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency and boosting their use of clean and renewable energy sources.
Other colleges and universities implementing energy-efficient projects include the University of Kansas, starting work on a $25 million project to make the campus more energy efficient, as well as Bellevue College and Hamilton College, which have earned the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
In addition, NREL and Cornell University have launched a Web site to help campus-based institutions develop clean energy and carbon-reduction strategies.
