Here Comes the Sun: Atlantic Cape Adds Solar to Green Initiatives

At 2 p.m., Oct. 10, Atlantic Cape Community College ceremonially flipped the switch on its new solar photovoltaic project at the Cape May County Campus in Court House. As the large 2.2-megawatt panels soak up the sun at both the Cape May County and the Mays Landing campuses, they will generate electricity equivalent to powering approximately 220 homes in a year.
How did this come about? Marina Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries, designed and constructed the project, which should generate approximately 50 percent of Atlantic Cape’s Cape May County Campus and 48 percent of Atlantic Cape’s total annual electric consumption, at a set rate, independent of market rates. By entering into the agreement, Atlantic Cape should realize savings of $93,000 the first year and up to $1.6 million over the 15-year life of the contract.
The photovoltaic system includes the installation of carports in four parking lots on the Mays Landing and Cape May County campuses. All arrays were to be completed by Oct. 18.
The solar energy initiative at Atlantic Cape Community College is an excellent example of using innovative strategies to promote energy sustainability as a key step in fulfilling our institutional commitment to environmental stewardship in two counties. The solar project will truly establish a green legacy for Atlantic Cape. But Atlantic Cape was environmentally friendly and energy conscious long before the term “green” was even in vogue.
The Cape May County Campus, in particular, has had a history of environmental or green initiatives dating back to its conception. The establishment of a full-service campus was promised to the citizens of Cape May County in January 1999, when Atlantic Community College became Atlantic Cape Community College as part of a jointure agreement between the two counties. Until that time, Cape May County was the only county in the state without its own or a shared community college.
Site selection work began immediately after the jointure approval, and by April 1999, the Middle Township location was selected. A Green Acres land swap was needed to secure the location, and Cape May County offered to dedicate new open space land in exchange for the property. The county also set aside monies from its general fund to purchase additional parkland to be identified in conjunction with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP approved the county and college officials’ Coastal Area Facility Review Act application, formalizing environmental approval to build the campus in a coastal zone, but with restrictions. The restrictions mandated a ban on future development of 18 acres of the 29-acre site and changes in the plan to protect two threatened species, the barred owl and the redheaded woodpecker, and two endangered species inhabiting the site: the eastern tiger salamander and the southern gray treefrog.
Working closely with the DEP, the college developed an Endangered Species Management Plan. The plan included redesigning the college building, altering access drives and placing barriers to prevent the salamanders and treefrogs from wandering onto roads and parking areas; integrating new breeding sites of standing water and small pools 2-4 feet deep into the campus storm water management system; and reforesting some open areas to provide the cover that encourages the amphibians to migrate to new and existing breeding ponds on adjacent land.
Since then, the College has actively pursued and investigated green and energy-saving programs and technologies at all of its campuses. These included the reduction of waste streams through recycling, the elimination of potential ground contamination through the removal of underground storage tanks, removal of harmful CFC refrigerants from central chillers and the installation of motion detectors on lighting systems. The new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) building opening at Atlantic Cape’s Mays Landing Campus will be LEED Silver certified.
Atlantic Cape also participates in such programs as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Lights and Energy Star Buildings, New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability and New Jersey Smart Start, which has yielded more than $100,000 in rebates and incentives. As a result of its ongoing efforts to explore and implement green concepts, the College was recognized in 2000 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which awarded Atlantic Cape a Certificate of Achievement for its voluntary commitment to Energy Star buildings. Atlantic Cape was the first community college and the first customer in Atlantic Electric’s (now Atlantic City Electric) territory to receive an Energy Star rating.
Atlantic Cape launched the Green Education Institute in 2009 to offer training in the latest environmental trends. Currently, the GEI offers Career Training in Building Analyst Certification, Introduction of PV Design and Installation; Professional Development in LEED for Green Associate, NABCEP Solar Installer Certification and Introduction to Water and Wastewater treatment, among others; and Building Performance Institute Workshops in Residential Building Energy Analyst, Home Energy Professional, Multi-Family Energy Analyst/Auditor and Principles of Building Science, among others.
Supporting our Green Campus Initiatives, the Academy of Culinary Arts grows some of its own produce in its organic greenhouse and buys local foods for use during classes at both Cape May County and Mays Landing campuses. The ACA also has an herb garden and utilizes two grapevines located on our Mays Landing Campus. All of these practices help to reduce the college’s carbon footprint.
For use as a teaching tool, the culinary program at our Cape May County Campus earlier this year contracted with Waste Management of New Jersey to provide separate containers for food waste for transport to a federally approved composting site in Delaware.
Of course, not all of our green initiatives take place in the classroom. At our Cape May County Campus, we’ve partnered with the Middle Township Public Works to participate in a unique consumer electronics recycling program. We encourage employees and students to bring in their outdated consumer electronics and collect those electronics in a drop box, which are gathered by the public works department each semester. In this way, we encourage students and employees to become lifelong recyclers.
We are proud of the steps we’ve taken at Atlantic Cape. Ultimately, the Green Campus Initiative will encompass all aspects of college life, operations, academic and training programs, and student participation.