MIT Office of Sustainability

A few months back, we shared news of MIT’s collaborative work to enable two new renewable energy facilities and purchase an estimated 1.3M megawatt-hours of renewable electricity annually by 2026. We shared that one of those projects, the 200 MW Big Elm Solar project in Bell County, Texas, was already fully operational. But we didn't share that some furry friends are part of those operations. ?? Rotating groups of sheep graze on the roughly 3,000 acre project, enabling the land to keep active agricultural use while also supporting solar. This agrivoltaic approach is a growing part of solar projects around the country that MIT is proud to support. https://bit.ly/40X1m4L Photos: Apex Clean Energy

This past semester we launched the new Scaling Climate Action & Sustainability in Higher Education Program as a way to bring higher ed sustainability professionals to MIT to learn from our model, share best practices, and broaden the information transfer for university professionals across the globe. Three different sustainability professionals joined us including Dr. Ceren Sezer, Group Leader at RWTH Aachen University’s Chair and Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism (Lehrstuhl und Institut für St?dtebau). Sezer came to MIT to learn more about the difference in sustainability approaches and goals across public/ private and a US/ European institutions. Sezer shared her insights from her time with us. "What I’ll take back with me to my work at RWTH Aachen University is the strong integration of evidence-based practice at MIT. Research and operations are seamlessly connected, with decisions and actions grounded in scientific evidence while always having a clear focus on practical implications," Sezer shared. Read her full interview at our blog. https://lnkd.in/eJtSPm5h

2024 was another year of action and accomplishment for everyone at MIT working to meet our sustainability and climate action goals. From?decarbonization work to new collaborations at the campus, city, and state level to expanded sustainability data reporting tools and community-wide events, we're proud to share this work in our 2024 MIT Sustainability Impact Report. https://lnkd.in/edqPji9G

On a dense urban campus like MIT's—with some buildings more than 100 years old—adding new renewable energy installations can be a challenge. Still, guided by MIT's Fast Forward climate action plan, the Institute committed to increasing its on campus renewable energy capacity by over 400 percent. Last month, MIT fulfilled that commitment with new solar installations on top of four campus buildings, W46, W97, E53, and W20. The new installations will increase campus renewable energy capacity by over 400 percent, and exceed the 500 kilowatts target set for total solar energy production on campus in the climate action plan. The solar installations are an important facet of MIT’s approach to eliminating all direct campus emissions by 2050. https://lnkd.in/eSM_SfVW

January is Independent Activities Period (IAP) at MIT. For the first time, the Office of Sustainability [MITOS] has teamed up with the Priscilla King Gray Public (PKG) Service Center at MIT to host an inaugural cohort of IAP Climate students. These students will work in the MITOS office as well as with the cities of Boston and Cambridge and the MIT Urban Risk Lab on a range of projects related to heat risk and preparedness – from designing shade structures to local policy research. We look forward to working with them this January, sharing their great work, and continuing to collaborate with our neighbors in the months to come. You can also learn more about MIT's ongoing heat resiliency work here:?https://lnkd.in/esDxc3_q?(edited) MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Collaborative effort supports an MIT resilient to the impacts of extreme heat As the severity and duration of heat increases, staff, researchers, and faculty at MIT are working together to devise policies and plans to support a more resilient campus and community.?

The Insititute's pursuit of a climate resilient MIT, one that fulfills its mission in the face of climate impacts, relies on collaboration on campus—with staff, faculty, and researchers, and off—with our city partners. Our friends at Second Nature recently featured some of this work that often goes unseen, but is essential to MIT reaching its climate goals. https://lnkd.in/e-b-Dux6

We're excited to host a virtual panel discussion next Monday, December 16th on how universities, including MIT, are modernizing their energy systems to improve efficiency, meet decarbonization goals, and demonstrate climate leadership strategies. Moderated by MIT Director of Sustainability Julie Newman, PhD, leaders from peer institutions will discuss how their campuses are renewing infrastructure to accommodate zero-carbon energy for heating, cooling, and electricity. This is part of a series of events designed to inform and engage the campus community about MIT’s journey toward decarbonization. Watch past event here: https://lnkd.in/e6eX-fqn ? Register to join us for this virtual event on December 16 at noon https://lnkd.in/eqpxB_g9 Speakers Vasso Mathes, Senior Campus Planner, MIT, will discuss the campus district heating system and the strategic efforts underway to decarbonize, including innovative approaches studied in the Institute’s forthcoming decarbonization plan. ? Sally McGarrahan, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Services, UC Berkeley, will outline the university’s Clean Energy Campus initiative, building on its rich history since 1868. Her presentation will also highlight the equity considerations integral to their planning process. ? Dave Larson, Senior Energy Engineer, Brown University, will explore how the university is reusing and repurposing existing infrastructure to support sustainable district energy projects, enhancing energy efficiency and meeting sustainability goals since its founding in 1764. ? Ted Borer, Energy Plant Director, Princeton University, will share how Princeton, established in 1746, is balancing energy demands with carbon reduction and financial objectives, focusing on practical strategies for sustainable energy management.

It's ribbon-cutting day at Big Elm Solar in Bell County, Texas! The large-scale solar project?adds 200 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy capacity to the power grid. It's part of the recently announced power purchase agreement facilitated by the Consortium for Climate Solutions which enabled the development of Big Elm and Bowman Wind in Bowman, North Dakota, which is expected to be operational in 2026. Senior Sustainability Project Manager Steve Lanou and Vice President for Campus Services and Stewardship Joe Higgins traveled to Texas to celebrate Big Elm coming online. "Enabling these projects in regions where the grids are most carbon-intensive allows them to have the greatest impact. We anticipate these projects will prevent two times more emissions per unit of generated electricity than would a similar-scale project in New England,” shared Higgins. More about the projects and MIT's investment in renewable energy: https://bit.ly/4igsNNb

“The science is telling us that we need to triple the amount of renewable energy on the power grids by 2030 and it’s not happening fast enough,” said Joe Higgins, MIT’s vice president for campus services and stewardship. “It really came down to, we need new models … and how do we come together to do that with much greater impact, at a much greater speed?” Boston-area universities, including MIT, are working hard to slash emissions. This includes efforts like the Consortium for Climate Solutions — the renewable energy collaborative we shared last week. Read more about this unique effort and how it fits into the work of fellow universities in the recent Boston Globe Media feature. https://bit.ly/3ZBoAMR

In a first-of-its-kind renewable energy aggregation, higher education institutions, healthcare systems, and a group of public and nonprofit organizations in Greater Boston and the North Shore are adding two new large-scale renewable energy projects to regional power grids by establishing the Consortium for Climate Solutions (Consortium) to address the carbon-free objectives of its members. Through two virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs), the Consortium’s procurement is spurring the development of 408 MW of new renewable energy, which will be constructed, owned, and operated by Apex Clean Energy. The 200 MW Big Elm Solar project in Bell County, Texas came online in 2024, and the 208 MW Bowman Wind project in Bowman County, North Dakota, is expected to come online in 2026. These projects will provide new sources of clean electricity to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and support a more resilient and diverse electricity grid, and collectively will generate clean power equal to the electricity use of 130,000 U.S. homes for each year of the 15-year duration of the contracts.?Beyond generating tangible environmental benefits, the two projects will create approximately $64 million in tax revenue for their communities, 750 jobs during construction, and a new and long-term source of income for local farmers and landowners, totaling $100 million. https://bit.ly/40X1m4L