Swarthmore College’s Roadmap to Zero
Swarthmore College has announced plans to move away from its current steam-powered heating system. Photo courtesy of Swarthmore College
A new $69 million Energy Master Plan, also known as Roadmap to Zero, will help Swarthmore College eliminate 98% of on-site and purchased-electricity greenhouse gas emissions. This is a major step toward the college’s goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2035. The college’s Board of Managers approved the plan at its February 27 meeting.
“Swarthmore has long believed in the importance of being responsible stewards for the natural environment,” says President Valerie Smith. “We recognize that the climate crisis is an existential threat, and we must take decisive action now.”
An overhaul of campus heating and cooling infrastructure is a key component of Roadmap to Zero. The campus currently relies on a 1911 steam system powered by combustion of fossil fuels. This will be replaced by a series of deep geothermal wells underneath the campus grounds, with a centralized geo-exchange plant housed in the basement of the college’s new dining and community commons project (currently under construction).
“Instead of investing more in a very old and inefficient steam system that uses last century’s technology, we can replace it with a new, highly efficient, zero-carbon energy system on campus,” says Associate Vice President for Sustainable Facilities Operation and Capital Planning Andy Feick.
The geo-exchange system works on a yearly cycle by which heat-recovery chillers, powered by renewable electricity, remove the heat from campus buildings during summer cooling and store the heat in the earth through deep ground wells. In winter, the heat is extracted to heat campus buildings. Currently, summer heat extracted from campus buildings is simply ejected into the air by cooling towers.
The first zone of wells, which can extend as deep as 600 feet into the ground, will be in the south Parrish lawn, near the SEPTA station, and will expand north up to Parrish Hall over time.
Sustainability Director Aurora Winslade describes the system as a kind of “giant rechargeable heat battery.”
The plan will also improve power reliability and increase backup power capacity, making the campus more resilient during power outages.
The final component of the plan is a college-wide commitment to more sustainable, energy-efficient infrastructure. Many of the college’s newer buildings, including Maxine Frank Singer Hall and the Palmer, Pittenger, and Roberts apartments, are energy efficient because they use new technology. But much of the rest of the campus’s infrastructure is lacking.
“With this plan, we will be addressing our old buildings and making them much more energy efficient — not just the systems inside the buildings, but also the envelopes of the buildings themselves and their insulating ability and their windows,” says Feick.
The plan is the culmination of a multi-year effort that included the offices of capital planning and project management, finance and investment, and sustainability. Also contributing were an external advisory board of experts, as well as students, faculty and graduates from the environmental studies and engineering departments.
Feick says that Swarthmore hopes other colleges will follow its lead, adding, “We want them to see that we can support our communities through renewable sources and still have the comfort and programmatic support that we require in order to operate our campuses.”
Full implementation of the plan is expected to take between seven and 14 years.
Published in cooperation with Swarthmore College.
