NYSERDA awards St. Lawrence University more than $112K to support the school’s energy master plan

CANTON, N.Y. — St. Lawrence University will use more than $112,000 in state funding to support the school’s “first ever” energy master plan.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) awarded the funding, the school said in a news release.

The new energy master plan will allow St. Lawrence’s Office of Sustainability to establish “broad” institutional goals to “efficiently” meet utility-services requirements, address sustainability strategies, and provide a “foundation for continuous reassessment and review” of utility infrastructure life-cycle strategies along with academic and facility-planning objectives, the university said. It will also complement the school’s facilities master plan.

“NYSERDA’s support will ultimately advance St. Lawrence’s progress toward climate neutrality,” William Fox, president of St. Lawrence University, said in the release. “The energy master plan will allow us to leverage our assets and resources — current and future — for the optimization toward environmental as well as financial sustainability.”

NYSERDA awarded the funding through its REV Campus Challenge Technical Assistance for Roadmaps program with an additional $4,000 to support a student internship position.

REV is short for Reforming the Energy Vision, a “strategy to build a clean, resilient, and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers,” according to NYSERDA’s website.

The REV Campus Challenge Technical Assistance for Roadmaps program helps campuses to partner with energy experts to improve understanding of campus-energy usage, through the development of a plan for “managing and reducing” on-campus energy.

Ryan Kmetz, assistant director of sustainability and energy management, will serve as St. Lawrence University’s project manager. He will collaborate with the school’s facilities operations to conduct the 35-week study on campus and to serve as the internship mentor.

The planning process will begin this fall, according to the release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

PHOTO CAPTION: The state has awarded St. Lawrence University more than $112,000 to support the school’s “first ever” energy master plan. (Photo credit: St. Lawrence University website / Tara Freeman)