Allegheny College

Allegheny College, a national liberal arts college where 1,600 students with unique combinations of interests, skills and talents excel, celebrated its bicentennial in 2015. A leader in sustainability, the college achieved carbon neutrality in 2020. Through the Better Buildings Challenge, Allegheny College committed to reduce energy consumption 20% by 2020 in 1.3 million square feet of building space across their campus.

Progress has been made through a combination of building efficiency retrofits, building management and behavior change, sustainable construction and renovations, and strategic divestment of properties to remove inefficient properties and increase density of usage in others. Carr Hall, a LEED Gold renovation, houses the Richard J. Cook Center for Environmental Science and is showcased under the Better Buildings Challenge program. The renovation includes high-efficiency HVAC systems, daylighting and efficient lighting solutions, as well as glazing, shading, and a vestibule to increase the lobby's energy efficiency. Bentley Hall, of which the cornerstone was laid in 1820, was recently sustainably renovated with envelope improvements, geothermal heating and cooling, controls, and LED lighting.

PORTFOLIO-WIDE LEADERSHIP COMMITMENTS

20% reduction in energy intensity

Video

Kick-starting Your Energy Management Program

Webinar

Kick-starting Your Energy Management Program

Presentation

A Lot With a Little: Leveraging Outside Resources to Augment Your Energy Management Program

Presentation

A Lot With a Little: Leveraging Outside Resources to Augment Your Energy Management Program

Tools

Allegheny College detailed spreadsheet to track cumulative energy savings

Tools

Allegheny College advertisements, pledges, and publicity highlighting results

Tools

Allegheny College Schedule of 2014 Challenge events

Showcase Project

Allegheny College: Richard J. Cook Center for Environmental Science

Implementation Model

Allegheny College: Leveraging Student-Faculty Research to Demonstrate Value of Sustainability Investments

Implementation Model

Allegheny College: Inspiring Efficiency Through Annual Energy Challenge

Performance Data

Solutions

Leadership Commitments

Better Buildings Challenge

Goal

Commitment

Progress

DOE Program Participation