The Taft School’s Renewable Energy Choice
The Taft School is taking responsibility for its environmental impact by choosing green power for its electricity needs and natural gas for heating the campus.
"The school, through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), is offsetting 100% (4 million kwh), or the annual usage for the entire campus," says Business Manager Gil Thornfeldt. "We value the environment and believe that taking steps to reduce the school’s environmental footprint is good for the Taft community and our environment."
Renewable energy credits are produced by wind farms, biomass facilities and other renewable energy projects that allow companies and consumers to offset their electricity use with clean and renewable energy.
"By purchasing renewable energy credits," Gil adds, "the school is guaranteed that the electricity we consume is replaced on the national power grid with clean power. In addition, Taft is also offsetting the emissions that are produced by heating our buildings with natural gas. By offsetting our carbon emissions and our electricity that is produced by fossil fuels, the school is reducing our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and working toward being a more sustainable institution."
How RECs Work
It is difficult and inefficient to pipe renewable energy from wind farms and other renewable energy projects directly to the campus, Gil explains. Electricity is sourced from the national power grid and that has the same mix of energy as everybody else, and this mix has less than 2 percent from renewables.
"The difference is that by Taft choosing to pay a bit more, or two-tenths of one cent per kwh, we ensure that the electricity we use from the grid gets replaced back onto the grid with renewable energy, which makes the energy mix cleaner for everyone."
Why RECs and Carbon Offsets are Important
By purchasing RECs Taft is making a commitment to sustainability and to lead by example. That commitment helps:
- Save our natural resources
- Support farmers and ranchers who make money from leasing their land
- Reduce our CO2 emissions and cleans the air for everyone
- Increase the demand for new projects
- Reduce our dependence on fossil fuels
- Generate awareness for supporting clean technology projects
Finally, the school’s commitment to renewable choice electricity and natural gas is also cost effective. The school has negotiated a three-year contract for electricity sourcing and has converted one oil-burning boiler to dual fuel, which gives us the option to use natural gas for heating. The nearly completed HDT/Dining Hall Project will be LEED certified building, hopefully at the level of Gold.
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