On-Site Energy
Our Goal: Vanderbilt will power its campus entirely through renewable energy and commits to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Investing in the Future
As part of the BlueSky Energy Vision Study recommendations, the university will explore and implement a comprehensive renewable net positive energy plan through energy conservation, production of more on-site clean (without combustion) and renewable energy than the university consumes to be able to store the excess for resiliency, and procurement of large-scale off-site renewable energy:
- Maximize solar and solar-ready building opportunities
- Reduce the Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of buildings on campus
- Identify opportunities to expand renewable energy production on campus
- Implement energy storage for resiliency
- Capture water for reuse
On-Site Energy Today
Vanderbilt’s on-campus Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant produces a portion of the electricity, all of the steam, and a portion of the chilled water consumed by the Vanderbilt community. This steam is then used for 90% of campus heating, sterilization, and 40% of campus cooling.
On November 19, 2014, Vanderbilt stopped burning coal in our on-campus power plant. More information about the power plant conversion can be found here.
The remaining portion of electricity consumed by Vanderbilt is purchased from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA generates power at coal–fired and natural gas power plants, nuclear power plants, with renewable energy and at hydroelectric dams.
Vanderbilt also has:
- Solar-powered electronics charging stations and picnic tables
- A solar-powered hot water heating system installed in the Currey Tennis Center including solar panels that collect the sun’s energy to heat the water for the building
- A 20kW solar photovoltaic electrical system installed on the roof of Currey Tennis Center with solar panels that generate electricity from the sun’s energy, which is fed into the Vanderbilt electricity grid
A dashboard of the solar panel system can be viewed online with the login: sustainvu@vanderbilt.edu and password: VU*Tennis
View energy consumption of campus buildings online. EnergyLogix is a web-based energy dashboard which allows the real-time monitoring of energy as well as comparing multiple buildings against each other in a user friendly animated chart.