Hayle Clark

10 March 2015

Endicott College Awarded Grant to Explore Constructions of Zero Net Energy Building

            Endicott College has been award a grant for $24,500 by the state. They will use this money to study the feasibility of designing and building a zero net energy building on their campus located in Beverly, Mass. This is one of 25 grants awarded by the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The zero net energy building are optimally efficient. They will consume the same amount of energy they need use in a year to produce from on-site renewable resources. They will reduce operating expenses, it will be a more comfortable building, it is healthier for people, and it will lower the greenhouse gas emissions. The college is working to decrease their own energy demand and the grant will give them a better understanding of how to make it possible for the future. They have natural land near the college like wetlands, forests, and oceans which makes them want to keep the environment cleaner and safer. They say that it will be a huge thing to be proud of if they can make there next project a zero net energy building. With research they found out that it will lower the electricity by 7%. It will give the campus almost 10% of the electricity they use. One of the top priorities for the college is to have a sustainable and efficient college. The pathway to the zero net energy building is launched by the department of energy resources supporting the building through residential and commercial demonstration projects. They will be reducing the amount of fossil fuels in the air. The college and Massachusetts has over three megawatts each of solar and wind. They also have 664 megawatts of solar installed today and the goal is to have 1600 megawatts by the year 2020. Endicott’s soalr array is one of those projects.