Trends in Sustainability Performance

Proper assessment of Stanford’s success in achieving a culture of sustainability depends heavily on tracking performance metrics and reporting them both internally and externally. A commitment to transparency and accountability …

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Advancements in Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency programs have been prominent on campus since the ’80s. Metering campus buildings has paid dividends throughout the last decade in developing more advanced programs to improve energy efficiency. …

Sep 14

Students Help Build Clean Energy Future in Yearlong, Hands-On Course

Stanford students develop and deploy solutions to energy problems through a new, yearlong course called the Energy Transformation Collaborative (ETC). Led by two consulting professors with decades of business and …

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Oct 14

Stanford Athletics Strengthens Sustainability Program

After members of the Green Sports Alliance—a coalition of more than 300 university and professional sports organizations striving to help sports teams, venues, and leagues enhance their environmental performance—toured Stanford’s …

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Nov 14

SLAC Partners with Energy Storage Companies to Stimulate Innovations in Battery Technology

The Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford is a partner in CalCharge, a new public-private partnership with the goal of increased collaboration and innovation in the development …

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Dec 14

School of Medicine Retrofit Projects Expected to Save $1.5 Million

The School of Medicine’s Office of Facilities Planning and Management integrates sustainability into all activities. Green cleaning systems, recycling, composting, water use reduction, and sustainable efforts in new construction are …

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Jan 15

DAPER Retrofits Reduce Energy Costs by $400,000/Year

The Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) operates 69 buildings on the Stanford campus, totaling almost 800,000 square feet. In 2015, DAPER completed energy efficiency projects in six …

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Jan 15

Winter Closure Campaign Saves Energy and Money

The 2014-15 Winter Closure campaign saved the university more than $357,000. During the two-week closure, buildings are encouraged to turn off heat and ventilation and cancel custodial services while occupants …

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Feb 15

Save Money, Save the World: New Project Pursues the Next Level of Energy Efficiency

A new California law has set goals to use energy in buildings 50% more efficiently and to get 50% of California’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030. With regard to …

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Mar 15

Study of Electric Space Heater Usage Reveals Building Performance Improvement and Program Opportunities

The Plug Load Equipment Inventory conducted in summer 2014 revealed a total of 955 electric space heaters on campus that are estimated to account for $144,728 in operating costs per …

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Mar 15

New Wastewater Treatment Research Facility Exemplifies “Living Laboratory”

The university broke ground on construction of the innovative new William and Cloy Codiga Resource Recovery Center (CR2C). This facility, which will be managed primarily by the Civil and Environmental …

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Apr 15

Workshop Empowers Students to Engineer Solar Energy Solutions for Global Needs

Twelve students participated in a six-week solar design workshop series to gain practical skills and develop solar project ideas that address pressing global energy needs. The workshop, sponsored by the …

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Apr 15

Stanford Invests in 78.5 MW of Solar Power

On April 16, Stanford entered into an agreement with SunPower to build an off-site solar photovoltaic (PV) plant generating 73 MW of electricity—enough to power approximately 20,000 homes—that will supply …

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Apr 15

New Aluminum Battery Charges Smartphones in Less Than a Minute

Smartphone owners know that it can take hours to charge a conventional lithium-ion battery. To address that problem, chemistry Professor Hongjie Dai and colleagues invented a flexible aluminum battery that …

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May 15

How California’s Renewable Quotas and Carbon Limits Could Affect Electricity Markets

In the California electricity crisis in 2000 and 2001, tangled regulations and opportunistic traders led to soaring wholesale prices and rolling blackouts. The state’s wholesale power market today is more …

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Jun 15

Stanford Receives 2015 IBcon “Digie” Award for Most Intelligent College Campus Operations

Stanford University was presented the 2015 Digie Award for Most Intelligent College Campus at the Intelligent Buildings Conference in San Antonio. Presented by Realcomm, the Commercial Real Estate Digital Innovation, …

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Jun 15

Office of Sustainability Launches Cardinal Green Labs Program

As one of the world’s premier research institutions, Stanford is home to approximately 2 million square feet of laboratory space and over 5,000 different research projects at any given time. …

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Jun 15

Plug Load Equipment Inventory Expands

In summer 2014, Office of Sustainability conducted an inventory of 55 types of plug load equipment in 220 buildings on Stanford’s campus. Data were recorded on over 110,000 pieces of …

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Jun 15

Sustainable Stanford Interns Support Key Initiatives on Campus

Nearly 25 students participated in the second year of the annual Sustainable Stanford Internship Program. This centrally coordinated program provides graduate and undergraduate students paid opportunities to gain hands-on experience …

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Jun 15

Stanford Researchers Stretch a Thin Crystal to Get Better Solar Cells

Electronics are based on crystals known as semiconductors, most famously silicon. To make semiconductors useful, engineers must tweak their crystalline lattice to start and stop the flow of electrons. Semiconductor …

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Aug 15

Studies of Programmable Timers Inform Campus-Wide Direct-Install Program

As a result of Stanford’s Plug Load Equipment Inventory in summer 2014, Office of Sustainability conducted pilots in four buildings of several basic energy efficiency measures that were estimated to …

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