Lebanon Valley College Recognized by EPA as Top Green Power User in the 2015-16 Middle Atlantic Conference

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Lebanon Valley College (LVC) as the Middle Atlantic Conference Champion of the 2015–16 College & University Green Power Challenge.

ANNVILLE, PA (04/25/2016)(readMedia)-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Lebanon Valley College (LVC) as the Middle Atlantic Conference Champion of the 2015–16 College & University Green Power Challenge. This win is attributed to LVC using more renewable energy than any other school in its conference.

For the last 10 years, the U.S. EPA's Green Power Partnership has tracked the green power use of participating college and universities to recognize their sustainability efforts and to encourage more schools across the country to switch from traditional electricity sources to renewable energy alternatives. Green power, which is zero-emissions electricity generated from renewable resources such as wind and solar, helps users reduce their carbon footprints as well as add to the overall capacity of renewable energy across the nation.

LVC came out on top in the Middle Atlantic Conference this year by using approximately 10,100,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy, representing 100 percent of its annual electricity and reducing its carbon footprint by 50 percent. All of its green power is procured from Constellation, an alternative energy company.

According to the U.S. EPA, LVC's impressive green power use of 10.1 million kWh is comparable to the annual electricity use of more than 900 average American households.

"EPA applauds Lebanon Valley College for its commitment to using green power and for taking a leadership position on the environment," says James Critchfield, Manager of the Green Power Partnership. "Lebanon Valley College is helping to reduce carbon pollution and provides an excellent example for other higher educational institutions to invest in environmental progress."

In 2008, Lebanon Valley College founded its Sustainability Task Force-now known as the Sustainability Advisory Committee-to set its sights toward environmental sustainability on campus and in the surrounding community. This year's victory in the EPA's College & University Green Power Challenge comes at a special time for the school's environmental initiatives.

On April 22, 2016, LVC's President Lewis E. Thayne, Ph.D., joined by SAC members and campus activists, signed Second Nature's Climate Commitment, pledging carbon neutrality in the College's near future. On the day before the signing ceremony, a green roof was unveiled on campus; this student-led innovation will provide produce for the school's dining hall and energy for the building.

"Lebanon Valley College has a very robust sustainability program that seeks to minimize the College's impact on the physical environment," says Don Santostefano, senior director of LVC's facilities management and member of the school's Sustainability Advisory Committee. "A major component of our sustainability initiatives is the energy management program, which includes conservation, green power purchase, technical improvements, and education...The purchase of all green power electricity by the College is a clear indication of our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment."

This year's College & University Green Power Challenge, which ran from 2015–16, featured 94 schools within 41 conferences. Together, the participating schools used nearly 2.5 billion kWh of green power. The Challenge is open to any U.S. collegiate athletic conference whose participating schools collectively generate a minimum 10 million kWh of green power. At least one school in each conference must be a Green Power Partner. In fall 2016, EPA will begin the challenge again, calculating the results of participating schools until spring 2017.

About Lebanon Valley College

Lebanon Valley College, in Annville, Pa., welcomes 1,600 full-time undergraduates studying more than 35 majors, as well as self-designed majors. Founded in 1866, LVC has graduate programs in athletic training, business, music education, physical therapy, and science education. Annville is 15 minutes east of Hershey and 35 minutes east of Harrisburg; Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore are within two hours.

About EPA's Green Power Partnership

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has nearly 1,400 Partner organizations voluntarily using billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies, small and medium sized businesses, local, state, and federal governments, and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit https://www.epa.gov/greenpower.

For more information about EPA's College and University Green Power Challenge, visit the Challenge website at https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge.