Plans for Wind Farm Halted

At its October meeting, the Grinnell College Board of Trustees elected not to continue with plans to construct a wind farm north of campus. The vote also reaffirms the College’s commitment to incorporating environmental responsibility into policies, decisions, and daily life on campus.

The Board initially authorized construction of the wind farm, subject to an approved funding plan, in February 2011. Estimates at that time indicated that a three-turbine wind farm could supply more than half of the College’s energy consumption.

After conducting numerous studies and securing lease agreements, easements, and permits needed for the project, College officials recently discovered that Optimum Energy, which plans to construct a single-turbine wind farm near Grinnell, had filed for interconnection approval from Alliant Energy before the College submitted its filing. According to Alliant Energy policies, Optimum’s project would have first priority to generate and sell power to Alliant. Grinnell would have had lower priority and at times could be forced to curtail or even shut down production.

“The development of a wind farm is a complex and lengthy process,” says Clint Korver ’89, Grinnell board chair. “When Optimum Energy filed for interconnection approval, it significantly changed the economics of our project and reduced the projected environmental benefit. However, the Board made clear in our motion that, while this project is no longer viable, the College will seek other ways to fulfill our commitment to environmental responsibility, as a core aspect of our policies, decisions, and daily campus life.”

In 2011, Grinnell President Raynard S. Kington signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. That commitment requires signatory institutions to develop a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality as soon as possible. Colleges also must take two or more actions to reduce greenhouse gases while their comprehensive plans are being developed.

Grinnell’s actions include:

• Requiring all new buildings to be constructed to meet the equivalent of requirements for silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
• Purchasing new appliances that meet the superior energy efficiency requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program when feasible.

Grinnell already is tackling many energy-efficiency projects that add up across campus:

• The College’s facilities management department will soon begin operating solar panels installed on the roof of its building at 1917 Sixth Ave. The solar power generated will offset 15 percent of the building’s electricity consumption. An energy audit also showed that doing a large-scale lighting retrofit, swapping out older-technology bulbs for LEDs, will save money and labor.
• Finding new applications for LEDs that will save money and labor will continue throughout campus.
• Each summer a residence hall is made more energy efficient. For example,
  • LED lighting replaced nearly 100 percent of the lights in James Hall during its summer 2014 renovation.
  • Installation of an automation system made it possible to establish temperature set points.
  • Triple-pane windows replaced older, less energy-efficient windows.
  • Sensors installed on windows automatically reduce heat in a room when a window is open.

The College’s “Environmentally Responsible Building Guidelines” ensure that future construction projects will achieve the highest level of sustainable performance possible within overall program parameters.

For example, a high level of sustainable building performance is stressed in the College’s request for proposals from architectural firms for the renovation and expansion of Alumni Recitation Hall and Carnegie Hall to create a new unified Humanities and Social Studies Complex. Firms seeking to provide both architectural and engineering services for the project are required to submit information about their experience and success in incorporating sustainability, high performance and alternative energy (such as geothermal) into project design.