Campuses

EcoMotion offers campus services across the country. We’ve done projects in California, Florida, New Mexico, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Virginia. We’ve worked for dozens of colleges and universities, school districts, as well as independent and charter schools. We prioritize steps for strategic energy management and get projects done.

Overview

Campuses are where sustainability makes a lasting difference in young minds. EcoMotion’s campus works span large universities, multi-campus school districts, and charter schools. We’re experienced in engaging students, faculty, and administrators in sustainability initiatives. We specialize in framing up and financing smart energy management including energy efficiency, onsite solar generation, advanced energy storage, and microgrids to provide heightened levels of energy resiliency.

Accomplishments

Solar + Storage

EcoMotion specializes in solar and storage for campuses. We serve as an Owner’s Representative for school districts and schools that are eager to green their power supply. Typically, our services follow a three-step progression from 1) Feasibility Analysis to 2) Procurement Support to 3) Project Oversight and Quality Control. We begin by assessing where to put solar and what rate offset solar will realize. Provided favorable, we then help campuses select the best vendor and technology. And then we stick with the project throughout final design, permitting, and construction and interconnection. EcoMotion also monitors solar systems on an ongoing basis and prepares annual performance reports for interested clients.

Microgrids for Resilience

EcoMotion’s most advanced technical work on campuses involves energy resilience. Thanks to the advent of cost-effective battery solutions, campuses can unite solar and storage and sophisticated controls to “island” in the event of a grid outage. EcoMotion helps campuses price and achieve desired levels of resilience. During emergencies, microgrids can provide means for students to shelter in place during short-term outages and can serve as powered community assets in the event of prolonged outages.

Electric Buses

EcoMotion manages the procurement of electric buses for school districts, helping to present choices to districts, managing competitive solicitations, and evaluation proposals for district and board recommendation. EcoMotion has worked with a school district to obtain and select ten Ebuses that meet its needs and specifications.

EcoMotion has also worked for districts managing the guts of the Ebus scene… their chargers and electrical infrastructure. Utilities offer choices for charging; EcoMotion guides districts through the nuances of their choices and their relative economics. In Chula Vista, EcoMotion worked with San Diego Gas and Electric to define the necessary infrastructure for 10, 100 kW chargers and to meet the District’s five year plan for more buses.

For clients, our team is integrating solar, Ebus charging, and Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits, the last of which begets more of the first two!

Strategic Energy Management Plans

EcoMotion provides a broad array of technical energy management services. We encourage campuses to look broadly at their energy management options. The options begin with energy conservation and energy efficiency and progresses to onsite generation and storage. We have worked on dozens of campuses promoting energy conservation through behavioral initiatives and technical services. The Strategic Energy Management Plans put a framework around the process. We help set goals, arrange financing, and support project activity.

The plans define the pathway of steps, for instance providing energy efficiency services – framing up and managing lighting retrofits, HVAC upgrades, pool and dining services upgrades, as well as the installation and use of sophisticated control systems.

Grants, Incentives, and Financing

EcoMotion supports school districts and schools with financing smart energy management. Of course we begin with gross costs of a measure. Are there incentives available? What grants might be tapped? If need be, EcoMotion can arrange financing for campuses, in cases monetizing tax credits and depreciation benefits. EcoMotion has also developed the Benefactor Investment Model (BIM), a financing model that makes benefactors slightly whole in six years, and that provides multiples of PPA savings to institutions over time.

Climate Action Planning

EcoMotion’s President, Ted Flanigan, has been preparing greenhouse gas inventories and climate action plans since 1991. Today, the EcoMotion team prepares campus greenhouse gas inventories using a number of different protocols that address Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Inventories provide a snapshot of a campus’s carbon footprint, and a baseline from which to measure and prioritize specific steps and mitigation strategies.

Climate Action Plans (CAPs) codify an academic institution’s commitment. CAPs document progress to date on campus and present goals for carbon neutrality with specific milestones, accountable parties, and tracking mechanisms. Each CAP delves into sustainability domains (energy, water, transportation, food, health and wellness, etc.), presenting short and long-term goals and strategies. Climate Action Plans present a path to carbon reduction and neutrality commitments, with marginal costs assessments and phased approaches to achieve commitments.