Sustainability

The Office of Sustainability serves to advance Colby’s leadership in campus sustainability and environmental education through collaboration with faculty, staff, students, administrators, and campus committees. Through our initiatives, we strive to foster a culture of sustainability and resource conservation among the campus community.

The Office of Sustainability supports ownership of sustainability initiatives throughout Facilities Services and identifies opportunities to align our operations with sustainable best practices. We collaborate with Capital Projects and Operations & Maintenance teams to set sustainability goals and ensure they are achieved. We also work with Business and Administrative Services to support the efficient use of resources through recycling, composting, and energy management initiatives.

Carbon neutrality is an extension of Colby’s longstanding commitment to the environment expressed in the curriculum, campus operations, and institutional culture. In 2013 we became one of the first (and still very few) carbon-neutral colleges. Carbon neutrality is accomplished through a multi-pronged approach. The College:

• Installed a co-generation turbine in 1999, producing approximately 1,000,000 kWh of electricity per year as a by-product of generating heat and hot water for the campus.
• Began purchasing all of its electricity from renewable sources in 2003, replacing roughly one-third of “business as usual” emissions.
• New construction and major renovation projects must achieve a minimum of LEED Silver certification. Colby currently has 15 LEED certified projects with two others registered.
• Converted the central heating plant fuel source from exclusively #6 oil to mostly wood-chip biomass, reducing emissions by roughly another third.
• Reduced emissions through increasing recycling and composting efforts; contracting with a local landfill that uses methane recapture; and completing many energy efficiency projects including renovations, HVAC upgrades, lighting upgrades, purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles, and incorporating building temperature setbacks.
• Installed geothermal heating and cooling systems in two major construction projects.
• Purchases carbon offsets for the remaining Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions.

Colby composts over 300 tons of pre- and post-consumer waste. Compostable materials include all food waste, tea bags and coffee grounds, paper cups, paper towels and napkins, and all plates, cups, and cutlery provided by Colby Dining Services. Our composting goes to Exeter Agri-Energy, an anaerobic digestion facility in Exeter, ME.

Single stream recycling is zero-sort. Everything recyclable goes in one bin. This includes all papers (office paper, envelopes, and paperboard such as cereal boxes, beverage boxes, pizza boxes), bottles, plastics #1-7, cans, and other metal and glass. Please note containers should be relatively clean of food or drink residue.

Colby is a leader among its peer institutions with a total of 15 LEED-certified spaces. In total, there are approximately 368,000 square feet of LEED-certified spaces on campus, which is 24 percent of our total square footage.

Colby has also committed to developing sustainable landscapes and has adopted SITES certification as part of our green building standards for new construction projects. Both the Outdoor Competition Center and the Athletic Complex are currently pursuing SITES certification.

The Central Steam Plant has both oil and biomass boilers providing steam to campus. Through a process  called “co-generation,” steam is distributed through an underground system approximately 9,000 feet in length. This system also returns condensed steam back to the plant.

Completion of the biomass plant in 2012 allowed Colby to switch to low-grade wood as its primary fuel, saving close to one million gallons of oil per year.

The Colby campus consumes over 15 million kilowatt hours of electricity every year. Power is fed onto campus from Central Maine Power distribution lines. The 12,470 volts of electricity is fed underground in a concrete encased piping system consisting of three main loops.

Colby’s near 5,300-panel solar array in Waterville started delivering power to the campus in late 2017. The latest in a series of sustainable energy projects implemented by the College, the array is estimated to produce 2.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year — about 16 percent of the College’s electricity.