Why Green
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Checklist
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Renewable Energy
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What You Can Do
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Green Map
Energy is essential to our society and our way of life. Currently, over 90% of our energy comes from fossil fuel and other sources that were created by geological processes over hundreds of millions of years (Source: Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration). These nonrenewable energy sources are projected to be exhausted within this century, threatening our civilization and well-being. As well, fossil fuels are one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change.
However, energy is available from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, that are virtually inexhaustible and do not generate greenhouse gases. Part of the energy used by the Science & Engineering Building is from renewable sources. A thin-film laminate solar photovoltaic system is mounted on the roof and provides 13.6 kilowatts (kW) of electricity, approximately 1% of the demand, for the building. This system, along with other building design features, earned the Science & Engineering Building four points towards LEED Gold certification for the ‘Optimize Energy Performance’ credits in the category of ‘Energy and Atmosphere’.
