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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Chula Vista Elementary School District
Solar Consulting Services
Chula Vista Elementary School District hired EcoMotion in February 2019 to provide a comprehensive solar and storage feasibility study for each of its 47 campuses and facilities. EcoMotion reported to CVESD’s board that the 8.1 MW project would save $66 – 88 million depending on how it was financed. In March 2020, the District was awarded bonding authority for the project, allowing for 100% solar at every campus and with no money down enabling over $80 million in savings over a 25-year period. The project also involves a solar-powered microgrid at the District Office to back up critical communications and IT systems.
To frame up the project, EcoMotion completed analysis of interval bill data, SDG&E rate structures and time-of-use periods, as well as spatial and financial analysis of all sites. With Board enthusiasm, EcoMotion spearheaded the effort to develop an RFP, to identify suitable firms for installation, and managed the procurement process. In the midst of a pandemic, EcoMotion facilitated a virtual proposers conference for the solar project. With thirteen firms in attendance, EcoMotion showcased all 49 campuses. All systems are now built and interconnected. Currently, EcoMotion tracks system performance through Engie’s Utility Vision system to assure each array’s operation and to measure each system’s performance.
Electric Buses and Charging Infrastructure
EcoMotion also supported the Chula Vista Elementary School District with its Ebus program. The District was granted a California Energy Commission budget for 10, V2G capable Ebuses. EcoMotion’s work involved helping the District select and procure 10 new BlueBird electric buses, plus 10 fast charging stations, and management software. EcoMotion’s role also involved working with San Diego Gas & Electric to upgrade the electrical infrastructure at the transportation yard to allow for the fast charging, as well as future expansion. The ten, 100 kW DC level three fast chargers can fully charge a bus in about 40 minutes.
EcoMotion also introduced CVESD to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits program of the California Energy Commission. The LCFS is designed to decrease the carbon intensity of California’s transportation through this “fee-bate program.” Thanks to its solar, Ebus charging, EcoMotion pointed the District to the Zero Carbon Intensity Pathway of the LCSF program.
Fremont Unified School District - Solar and Storage Analysis
In 2022, EcoMotion supported facilities officials at the Fremont Unified School District in its evaluation of two proposals for solar and storage. The proposals were each strong; one presented by Tesla and the other by Forefront. The analysis considered solar and storage at each of the District’s campuses. EcoMotion’s work culminated in a Board presentation with an objective review of the District’s options as well as EcoMotion’s recommendations.
Campbell Union High School District - Energy Resilience
After successfully bringing microgrids and their energy resilience to Santa Rita Union School District in Salinas, California, in 2017 Campbell Union High School District – in the San Jose area – reached out to EcoMotion for energy resilience. How could its seven campuses remain operational in the event of a blackout, and even in the event of a sustained power outage?
Representing the District, and through a competitive solicitation, EcoMotion developed a team of leading firms to build microgrids for each campus. They would be powered by the sun. The team included Johnson Controls, Avalon Batteries, Eaton, and Spirae. The job was to create a model of resilience using existing solar coupled with vanadium-flow battery storage, managed by sophisticated controls. Each community feeding into the school district supported the project; West Valley College was a project partner.
EcoMotion then worked with the District to match funds and secure an EPIC grant from the California Energy Commission for the project. We later applied for and requested funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Hazard Mitigation Grants Program. Through the District partnership, and technical development process, EcoMotion began to develop a template for “rewiring” California campuses such that their solar assets – when combined with storage and controls – are vital during power outages.
Huntington Beach City School District – Solar Forensic Analysis
For Huntington Beach City School District, EcoMotion performed a full solar forensic analysis of two sets of aging solar arrays there. The new facilities director wanted a complete review of their operations and value to the District, and to know whether costly maintenance was warranted. The systems were installed in 2010 by Chevron at a cost of $7.28 million, and in 2011 at a cost of $7.5 million. EcoMotion examined the solar systems on each campus in detail, taking note of conditions and identifying broken panels in the process.
This site evaluation was then coupled with detailed evaluation of the monitoring system and the solar arrays’ performance. EcoMotion was able to easily tell which arrays were the best and worst performers. The financial analysis revealed how the Edison rates have actually escalated, and how the performance guarantees had been met, largely by banking early solar production prior to the contract effective date. EcoMotion provided detailed financials and recommendations to the District.
Mountain View School District - Solar Works
Mountain View School District had been through a failed solar process the year before, and called EcoMotion to resuscitate the District’s desire for solar. EcoMotion was hired to serve as the District’s owners representative and began with a thorough, impartial feasibility analysis. With Board approval, this led to a procurement process for the ten-campus project. EcoMotion is currently providing project oversight and quality control, working on behalf of the District with Luminace on installation, complicated by trees, easements, and tight summer schedules on several campuses.
Orange Unified School District - Solar Works
For Orange Unified School District, EcoMotion twice served as subject matter expert in procurement processes for solar power, the first for 13 campuses in 2018, and the second for 10 campuses in 2020. EcoMotion worked with OUSD officials to determine the locations for solar, followed by independent financial analysis of the value of solar at each site. EcoMotion crafted Requests for Proposals and helped the District evaluate proposers, and contract with them.
The Fall 2020 solicitation featured a successful Virtual Solar System Job Walk. EcoMotion’s two-hour, online job walk presented the District’s specifications for each site, proposed array and meter locations, and construction coordination details. EcoMotion presented aerial and photographic images, reinforced with a Google Drive complete with comprehensive site plans, utility interval data, etc. In each case, Ameresco was selected to finance, build, own, and operate on behalf of the District and through a power purchase agreement.
EcoMotion has also provided performance monitoring and verification services of its two sets of solar arrays for OUSD. Once the first set of campuses were outfitted with solar, EcoMotion analyzed the performance of these eight solar systems. This was Board direction: Before moving forward with solar on another 12 sites, the Board wanted to be sure of system performance and that all schools have been properly migrated to the correct utility rate. With access to billing data, EcoMotion assessed each site and flagged discrepancies in performance and rate structures.
Park Century School – Solar and Storage
For the Park Century School, EcoMotion serves as a solar and storage advisor. The school has been adding a multipurpose facility, sandwiched in a pizza pie shape between two facilities, one of its own. The design includes subterranean parking – with stacked cars tied to EV chargers, outdoor areas and multipurpose rooms. A large solar awning was envisioned by John Berry Architects. EcoMotion worked with John Berry and his associates advising on solar configurations and technologies. We examined several architectural glass products. Later our team calculated the solar performance of different designs. The storage analysis was tricky given space constraints and the option of night-time charging for the community.
Rescue Union School District - Solar Support Services
In December 2022, EcoMotion received a call from Rescue Union School District officials about the prospect of helping the District go solar in time to maintain the benefits of Net Energy Metering 2. By April 14, 2023, the District would have to be comfortable with the feasibility of going solar using a power purchase agreement (PPA). It would have to have gone through a competitive solicitation to select a contractor, have a contract finalized, and have the contractor finalize each campus’s design to submit before the deadline. Many pieces had to align, and did. EcoMotion managed the process and met the deadline.
EcoMotion’s Energy Efficiency Works
Over the past seven years, EcoMotion has managed energy efficiency projects for campuses worth $27+ million dollars, ~$33 million with associated solar and storage systems.
This brief compiles data from 100 California campuses where EcoMotion has served as an energy manager. Much of this work was paid by California Proposition 39, a 2013 bill that taxed out-of-state corporations doing business in California and put the money to work upgrading public schools and community colleges.
LED lighting is certainly the retrofit of the decade, often cutting lighting energy use by 50%. It’s the most cost-effective and pervasive retrofit that EcoMotion has specified and managed of late. EcoMotion has done lighting projects with 18 districts and charter schools managing the retrofit of 57,153 fixtures.
Far less sexy and less cost-effective are important HVAC upgrades: heating, ventilating, and air conditioning. EcoMotion has managed the replacement of 272 rooftop and wall-mounted HVAC units for a combined 406.6 tons. EcoMotion has also been involved in chiller upgrades, as well as boiler replacements and air handler repairs. For two school districts, EcoMotion installed wireless thermostat systems, in one a direct control ventilation system tied to CO2 levels of occupants, as well as a cool roof.
Much of the work was done with retro-commissioning campuses and installing 57 energy management dashboards to make vivid both energy use and savings.
In addition, EcoMotion has been involved in retrofitting pool pumps, heaters, and covers. Along the way EcoMotion helped two schools get electric buses. For eight schools that had tapped out their most pressing efficiency opportunities, EcoMotion helped them get them solar, mostly small systems for charter schools that couldn’t afford them and that are not eligible for financing. The most comprehensive work involved the Santa Rita Union School District, where EcoMotion supported energy-efficient lighting and wireless thermostat controls and then financed and installed 1 MW of solar + 480 kW of storage plus microgrid controls over six campuses.
Pathways to Carbon Neutrality Plan for the Marine and Science Technology Academy - Miami, Florida
EcoMotion developed a Pathways to Carbon Neutrality Plan for the Marine and Science Technology Academy (MAST) in Miami, Florida. The Plan salutes early works with sustainability, notably energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability at MAST. EcoMotion investigated the facility and transportation energy use, presented MAST with pathways to carbon neutrality to consider, addressed financing options, and ultimately presented recommendations for additional steps in both governance and operations. In moving the existing foundation forward, the Plan prepares the School for the carbon-free energy future.
Glendale Community College District Fuel Cell Analysis
Glendale Community College District hired EcoMotion to analyze its proposed fuel cell energy strategy. EcoMotion evaluated the economic benefits and environmental implications of the proposal, and made recommendations on two energy pathways forward, a fuel cell option and an alternate solar option. The Energy Strategy Validation Study conducted by EcoMotion included financial and emissions analyses based on rates and marginal power plant over 25 years. The study concludes with a series of recommendations. In the short term, yes, given current utility rates…take the fuel cell option. In the long term, EcoMotion recommends action to change interconnection and net energy metering rules so that the College can fully utilize both technologies.
Prop 39 Services for Murrieta Valley Unified School District - Murrieta, California
Murrieta Valley Unified School District is complete with its 21 campus exterior lighting retrofit, and 7-campus interior lighting retrofit managed by EcoMotion. The exterior retrofit included all wall packs, walkway lighting and parking lot lighting, the latter complete with automatic dimming and full intensity triggered by movement. All exterior lamps are at 3,000 degrees Kelvin in line with Dark Sky Association standards. The comprehensive interior LED lighting retrofits involved nearly 5,000 fixtures and included all classrooms, hallways, multipurpose rooms, gymnasiums, theaters, and exit signs in MVESD’s middle schools and high schools. Thanks to Champion Electric and LTS Lighting for exceptional work.
EcoMotion has also completed the Murrieta Valley Unified School District’s Strategic Energy Management Plan outlining pathways to greater efficiency, renewable power, energy resiliency, and carbon reductions. The Plan focuses on MVUSD’s facility energy use — past, present, and future — highlighting a track record with efficiency and renewable energy. MVUSD was one of the first school districts in the area to go solar.
Prop 39 Services Palm Desert Charter Middle School - Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert Charter Middle School went solar last spring! EcoMotion managed HVAC retrofits there, in addition to the implementation of 52 kW of photovoltaic power, with two solar arrays that frame the school’s entrance. Installed by PermaCity Skybridge, the system is made up of 144 Hyundai solar panels and uses Solar Edge inverters. Thanks to California Proposition 39 funding managed by EcoMotion, the School has cut its utility bill by 22% through energy efficiency and solar power.
EcoMotion has also completed the charter school’s Strategic Energy Management Plan (SEMP). The Plan focuses on PDCMS’s facility energy use and transportation energy use to determine the School’s carbon footprint. Additional energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities are outlined by EcoMotion, means to power the School’s future, to shape its students, and to take climate action.
Renewable Energy Master Planning for Loyola Marymount
For Loyola Marymount University, EcoMotion provided a comprehensive energy management analysis of campus systems and then presented options to boost the campus’s impressive efforts to date. Our team examined electricity use on campus, noting LMU’s goals for cost savings and carbon commitments. Our team dug deep in solar, examining the steps and economics of repowering existing solar… and adding solar. We also explored the thermodynamics and economics of fuel cells and microturbines.
EcoMotion’s consulting for LMU explored a number of options… such as cogeneration, RECs and carbon credits, and Vehicle to Grid. Ultimately, our team presented four pathways to dollar and environmental savings: 1) Maintain existing solar, 2) Install 2 MW of NEM solar, 3) Install 2 MW of NEM solar and 3 MW of LADWP FIT solar, 4) Install 2 MW of NEM solar, 3 MW of FIT solar, and 2.5 MW of fuel cell capacity. One of LMU’s admirable goals was to make its renewables “visible and teachable.” At the finish, EcoMotion delivered the 2019 Loyola Marymount Renewable Electricity Master Plan as a 38-page report and Powerpoint presentation. It presents strategic means to leverage actionable projects and realize short and long-term benefits… including resilience.
Smart Energy Management Garden Grove Unified School District - Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove Unified School District serves 45,000 students on 72 sites. It has a ~$12 million allocation of Prop 39 funds over five years, and hired EcoMotion to serve as its Prop 39 energy manager. Concurrently, the District is at the mid-point of a nearly half billion-dollar bond initiative which involves the retrofit of every one of its 69 school sites. The District’s attention has been necessarily on modernization and EcoMotion was hired to manage Prop 39 – from energy efficiency to renewables and storage — district-wide. EcoMotion has melded efficiency funds and initiatives with modernization, providing advanced efficiency through LED lighting and pool pump controls and other measures, and feathering in to the District’s construction schedule. Already we’ve enabled advanced levels of energy efficiency at six campuses, with that many again in the queue.
Along the way, EcoMotion and its Climate Smart Schools partnership with Climate Resolve has been instrumental in leveraging the Prop 39 program effect. We’ve won a $2 million grant for drought-tolerant planting, and to create bioswales on three high school campuses. We applied for and won a grant for zero net energy. Now we’re developing a zero net energy project at Santiago High School supported with a grant from Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas. It incorporates heightened levels of energy efficiency, solar, and storage, as well as student engagement. It was the ZNE project that propelled GGUSD’s pursuit of solar and storage. EcoMotion analyzed every school site for its solar financial viability and recommended solar at 20 of the largest campuses, plus the District office and its maintenance facilities.
Prop 39 Services Poway Unified School District - Poway, California
EcoMotion serves the Poway Unified School District with Prop 39 services, and we have for years thanks to our project lead at Barnhart Reese Construction. Working closely to PUSD’s own lighting, retro-commissioning, and HVAC engineers, EcoMotion has been instrumental in bridging between aspiration, on the part of the District, and fulfilling the stricture of the CEC’s guidelines. Thus far, a half dozen school sites have been retrocommissioned and largely relit – creating dramatic savings. In once instance, the installation of a “pony chiller” will allow for efficient operations during shoulder seasons when the central chilling plant’s full capacity is not required.
EcoMotion’s work for PUSD has extended beyond energy efficiency. We’ve evaluated solar proposals, in once case a 20-campus proposal situating panels on modular classrooms’ rooftops that was ultimately approved. EcoMotion also provided an independent review of a proposal to site energy storage systems on PUSD campuses. EcoMotion studied the proposal at hand, spoke with competing vendors, assessed the storage industry – specifically the interaction between solar and storage – and helped the District map a strategy for storage on 19 campuses backed with a performance guarantee. The systems will serve to reduce peak demand charges and are completely third-party financed, managed, and maintained.
Battery Back-Up and Solar and Prop 39 Santa Rita Union School District - Salinas, California
EcoMotion is currently working for the Santa Rita Union School District located in Salinas, California. Salinas, with a population of 150,000, is in the heart of agricultural Monterey County, known as “the Salad Bowl of the World.” Our work for the six-campus SRUSD involved two activities: First, we were asked to explore the use of battery storage systems for emergency back-up. The District has placed a high priority on six-hour storage to be able to keep students safely at school in the event of a power outage. The second task has been to examine the value of solar to the District. Our team analyzed bills for each campus and the District office (as well as adjacent Monterey County offices), conducted thorough site assessments, calculated emergency back-up requirements, and then evaluated energy and dollar savings opportunities for solar systems combined with rate switches. With Board approval, EcoMotion crafted and released a Request for Proposals for the District seeking emergency back-up (be it batteries or other forms of backup, including traditional generators) and an aggregate of 1 MW of solar. Bidders proposed one or both service options.
Prop 39 Services Fallbrook Union Elementary School District - Fallbrook, California
Known as the “Avocado Capital of the World,” Fallbrook is an unincorporated community of ~30,000 residents in rural Northern San Diego County. It’s due east of Camp Pendleton; two of the District’s schools are located on the Marine Corps base. FUESD has ten campuses, including a facilitated homeschool academy. Working on the Barnhart Reese Construction team, EcoMotion benchmarked each campus and then identified measures on one campus for its first, bundled, multi-year Energy Expenditure Plan for Live Oak Elementary School. Energy conservation measures (ECMs) identified include replacing 22 of the school’s existing inefficient heat pumps with higher efficiency units, the replacement of the heat exchanger flat plates to restore proper flow and heat transfer to the system. This will optimize the scheduled operation and control sequences of the cooling tower systems, balance the condenser water loops, balance the heat pump air intake, and commission existing system.
Prop 39 Services Savanna School District - Anaheim, California
EcoMotion is serving as the Prop 39 energy manager for Savanna School District, located in Anaheim, California. The six-campus district has recently modernized each of its campuses, one of which qualified for retroactive Prop 39 energy efficiency funding. EcoMotion’s work there involved an analysis of pre-modernization baseline conditions, retrofit details and the resulting energy savings, thus the retrofit’s costs and benefits. EcoMotion worked closely with the project architect and project manager. Lighting, HVAC, and other retrofit measures qualified for funding and thus were included in the Prop 39 funding request, a multi-year Energy Expenditure Plan.
Prop 39 Services Cypress School District - Cypress, California
EcoMotion is serving as Prop 39 Energy Manager for Cypress School District. As with Savanna School District, Cypress features recently modernized campuses, one of which qualified for retroactive energy efficiency funding. Works there involved an analysis of pre-modernization baseline conditions, retrofit activity, its costs and benefits. EcoMotion worked closely with the project architect and project manager Lynne Pentecost of Schoolhaus Advisors. The Cypress School District strategy is to develop a multi-year Energy Expenditure Plan that includes both retroactive funding and new measures to save energy and dollars for the District.
Prop 39 and Solar Santa Rosa Academy - Menifee, California
Santa Rosa Academy is a charter school located in Menifee, California. The K-12 school features three academic tracks allowing for on-campus study, home schooling, and a middle-ground program. EcoMotion’s role on campus has been to determine the best use of the school’s Prop 39 allocation, made a bit more complex given the fact that the brand-new campus was built to California’s rigorous Title 24 building standards.
After a thorough investigation of the campus, and working closely with its builder, EcoMotion and the school decided to focus on a two-pronged approach. First was an analysis of solar opportunities on campus. EcoMotion developed various scenarios including a 100% solar option. Ultimately, the school elected to pursue an 85 kW solar system to be installed in the roof of its brand new gym. EcoMotion coordinated this solicitation with the school’s architect and builder, crafting an RFP, managing job walk and bidders’ questions, and making a recommendation to the school on a select contractor. A second use of its allocation will be used to fund an energy management system (EMS) to control the school’s 64 rooftop HVAC units. The new system will allow for controls and monitoring.
Chula Vista Elementary School District: Electric Bus Project Support
While supporting Chula Vista Elementary School District with its 49-campus solar project, EcoMotion was asked to support the district’s electric bus project. During the district’s transition of transportation managers, EcoMotion provided grant application support, and later quarterly reporting for the ten buses and the charging infrastructure needed. The project involved communications with the serving utility, San Diego Gas and Electric regarding infrastructure upgrades, and solicitation support for the EV charging equipment.
San Diego Community College District: Mainspring Linear Generator Assessment
In 2024, EcoMotion conducted a technology assessment of linear generator technology for SDCCD, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of this technology for the proposed application in a 293,533 square foot housing complex being built at City College in San Diego. Mainspring is the first commercialized application of this technology, based on research at Stanford University’s Advanced Energy Systems Lab.
The concept for linear generators dates back to the 1920s… using chemical energy to drive magnets through a stator, converting linear motion into electricity. EcoMotion’s assessment focused on the significant savings and the technology’s key benefits of fuel flexibility, load following, and resilience, but flags its inherent emissions issue without offsets.
Campbell Union High School District: Energy Resilience Support
Exploration of getting FEMA support for energy resilience on campuses. Plan to add storage to existing solar. EcoMotion took FEMA cost effectiveness training., Ultimately, FEMA did not fund this innovative application for community energy resilience, despite millions of dollars of solar already expended and available to be rewired for resilience.
Banning Unified School District: Electric Bus Charging Project
BUSD recently awarded six electric buses and charging infrastructure through ZESBI grant and AQMD funding. The district seeks a solar solution from EcoMotion. Analysis found a combination of solar + storage, given relatively low excess solar export values, to be financially viable. RFP will be released to bring in a highly qualified vendor. The district seeks cost savings and energy resilience.
EcoMotion Partners with GreenerU to Collaborate on Innovative Financing for Solar, Efficiency, Storage, and Controls
In 2020, GreenerU, based in Boston, and EcoMotion joined forces to promote solar and efficiency for New England colleges and universities. A spearpoint of this collaboration is EcoMotion’s Benefactor Investment Model that offers innovative financing for solar, efficiency, storage, and controls to GreenerU’s clients.
The BIM is a charitable giving method developed by EcoMotion consulting team member Mark Hopkinson that: a) provides institutions capital needed to implement a climate action plan, b) provides donors the opportunity to support institutions while making an attractive return on their investment and, c) makes benefactors investors first, then donors.
Financing Solar for Warner Unified School District - EcoMotion’s Benefactor Investment Model
EcoMotion was hired by the Warner Unified School District to represent its interests in a “deposit lease” structure being offered for a solar system on campus. It was an intriguing deal involving a benefactor as well as tax equity partners and discounted power for the school. For legal reasons, the District rejected the no-money-down financial model. Ultimately, EcoMotion convinced the benefactor to use EcoMotion’s Benefactor Investment Model, actually forming a new variant, BIM-R… the R standing for revolving. By forming an LLC, and monetizing tax credits and depreciation benefits, the benefactor was able to drive down the cost of solar and then provide deeply discounted power to the school through a power purchase agreement. The PPA revenues to the benefactor then revolve into the next project.
Financing Solar for Non-Profits - EcoMotion’s Benefactor Investment Model
Non—profit institutions, such as schools and universities have long suffered the challenge of going solar, without a “tax appetite.” In other words, being non-profit they can neither tap the investment tax credit (worth 30% of total system cost) nor the depreciation benefits that can be as high as another 35% of system costs. The use of power purchase agreements (PPAs) is appealing since the private-sector partner can monetize the tax benefits, but clearly financial institutions are reaping attractive returns instead of the site users. Thus the ultimate cost of solar, like a mortgage, can be double its nominal value. EcoMotion’s Benefactor Investment Model uses the assets of concerned, caring, and oft-wealthy alumni and other benefactors, coupled with a “friendly PPA” to take advantage of the best of both for-profit and non-profit worlds. EcoMotion’s Senior Business Advisor – Mark Hopkinson – developed the BIM for EcoMotion. In this model, benefactors take the tax benefits, get their money back in full, and in time donate the system to the non-profit. For more information, please give us a call!
Energy Service Agreements Renew Energy - Boston, Massachusetts
Energy Service Agreements, or ESAs, are a promising new model for financing energy efficiency. Like Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for solar and wind, ESA providers are responsible for installing equipment on site, then maintaining and operating it for the life of the contract, and charging the customer for saved kilowatt hours… not equipment installed. As long as deals can be structured such that ESA payments are less than prior utility bills, the deal is viable.
For Renew Energy, a leading provider of ESAs, EcoMotion reached out to a dozen schools and universities in New England, describing the model and its benefits to campuses and other institutions.
Green Revolving Funds Sustainable Endowments Institute - Boston, Massachusetts
The Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) is a special project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and is based in Boston Massachusetts. SEI developed the “Billion Dollar Challenge.” Could SEI’s Executive Director, Mark Orlowski, and his colleagues get universities to create green revolving funds worth a billion dollars in aggregate? Harvard and the University of Vermont vied for the largest funds. SEI had written a fabulous guide to green revolving funds, showing 5 – 6 ways to seed the capital and as many ways to divide the benefits over time.
In 2013, EcoMotion and the Sustainable Endowments Institute teamed up to coordinate the Leaders in Energy Efficiency Financing (LEEF) network, providing no-cost technical consulting to schools in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts. Thanks to grants from the Barr Foundation and the John Merck Fund, EcoMotion and SEI reached out to almost 200 schools and engaged senior leadership to explore and implement green revolving funds on 21 campuses and the cities of Boston and Cambridge. For example, Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts partnered with EcoMotion and SEI to explore the Green Revolving Fund model and within six months launched a half-million dollar pilot fund dedicated to energy efficiency and engagement.
San Diego Community College - Energy Master Plan, 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and 2022 Climate Action Plan
Energy Master Plan
In late 2022, EcoMion prepared an Energy Management Plan for San Diego Community College District. It documented the current situation at SDCCD, its 28 electric meters and its 25 gas meters spread across ten sites. The Plan also acknowledged and measured SDCCD’s leadership and performance with fuel cells and large solar arrays. In early 2023, EcoMotion prepared a 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory and an initial Climate Action Plan for SDCCD.
The research that led up to these documents’ release was extensive. The team documented the performance of solar systems at City College, Mesa College, and Miramar College and three other locations. Miramar has solar-ready potential. EcoMotion examined their contracts and verified their output. We reviewed a fuel cell opportunity at one campus by comparing it to additional solar. Our team also reviewed the rates for all SDCCD meters to make sure that no lost opportunities are at hand. Three meters were identified as viable candidates for a rate switch.
2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Following on EcoMotion’s development of an Energy Master Plan for the District, the work shifted to carbon accounting and climate action planning for this massive district with an annual enrollment of ~100,000 students. The SDCCD 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory developed by EcoMotion in 2023 covers SDCCD’s three major campuses plus seven satellite locations. Every inventory is unique and requires data from multiple sources. SDCCD buys power from four sources – San Diego Community Power, San Diego Gas and Electric, solar through two power purchase agreements, and fuel cells operated by Bloom Energy. The inventory presents a clear breakdown of the District’s carbon footprint… setting the stage for climate action planning.
2022 Climate Action Plan
Armed with fresh and recent data from the Energy Master Planning and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory works that EcoMotion completed in 2021 and 2023, in 2023 EcoMotion developed a Climate Action Plan for the District that squarely addresses its carbon footprint. A key challenge addressed in the CAP is the footprint associated with student, staff, facility and staff commuting. This is also a key variable in the planning process, with post-pandemic telecommuting finding a new balancing point with on-campus learning. Another CAP finding is that the fuel cells, while highly beneficial in some utility service territories, are actually a demerit in San Diego where the District is served by San Diego Community Power and its 50% green base offering.
Sustainability at Saint Joseph’s College Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Climate Action Plan, Eco-Reps - Standish, Maine
Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is a private Catholic liberal arts college in Standish, Maine, that grants bachelor’s degrees in a traditional on-campus setting, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees via online education. Saint Joseph’s was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1912 as an institution for women, originally located on convent grounds in Portland until 1956 when it moved to Standish, located on the shores of Sebago Lake, 18 miles from Portland. In 1970, Saint Joseph’s became coeducational and six years later began a distance education program for working adults. Saint Joseph’s offers its online programs to 2,400 students in 50 states and nine countries.
At Saint Joseph’s, EcoMotion has been instrumental in revitalizing a sustainability initiative that includes a campus farm, an LED-lit gymnasium, greenhouse gas inventories, and more. In the first year, EcoMotion prepared a greenhouse gas inventory for the campus as well as its sustainability plan. Both of these deliverables were used to fulfill the milestone requirements of the Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). In addition, EcoMotion manages a vibrant “eco-rep” program through which students take the lead on spurring and carrying out green initiatives on campus. With an existing Bronze STARS rating, Saint Joseph’s College is looking to advance informed by a STARS gap analysis and submittal, which will be conducted in the Spring of 2016.
Moving Up the Sustainability Curve Bryant University - Smithfield, Rhode Island
EcoMotion was originally retained by Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island in 2012 to boost its sustainability profile. Given student and alumni interest in a green Bryant, the University hired EcoMotion to assess the campus and to recommend a strategy to advance the cause. EcoMotion began with a gap analysis. Just what would it take to get to STARS bronze? A plan was developed and fulfilled and EcoMotion was successful in helping Bryant get its first STARs rating in 2013. With Bronze in hand, EcoMotion then worked for Bryant to attain the Silver Level, and to track progress from its STARS baseline. This work involves advocacy, harvesting support across campus, facilitating meetings and initiatives across departments, and crafting a portfolio of steps to boost this business school’s reputation and standing in New England.
In addition to STARS, EcoMotion developed and recently completed the third edition of the Bryant University Sustainability Plan, complete with a refined, quantified tracking tool to measure progress towards the Plan’s goals. Our team developed and has facilitated a strong Sustainability Ambassadors program, known on other campuses as eco-reps. These students have been coordinated to boost the school’s standing in RecycleMania and other events such as GameDay Recycling, spreading the word peer-to-peer. Recent works with “Green Office Cleanouts” have resulted in repurposing surplus supplies, shredding and recycling. Having assessed all locations for solar on campus – from rooftops to parking lots and ground-mount options — EcoMotion tracks Rhode Island incentives for distributed solar for Bryant.
Sustainability Planning Thayer Academy - Braintree, Massachusetts
Thayer Academy is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory day school located in Braintree, Massachusetts. The academy was conceived in 1871 at the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer, the father of the Military Academy at West Point, and then established in 1877. Thayer annually enrolls 470 students in the Upper School and 220 students in the Middle School. The 34-acre campus is made up of eight buildings; students are drawn from Boston’s Metro West and South Shore communities.
Today, Thayer Academy, like many schools, is getting into sustainability in earnest, and its leaders recognized the need to coalesce various stakeholders to develop a sustainability committee and a basic charter for action. A sustainability coordinator was selected from the faculty pool. EcoMotion was hired to facilitate this process, and to help jumpstart a number of practical initiatives to demonstrate leadership in sustainability and to get the ball rolling on campus. A committee formed, its mission and game plan were defined.
Beyond organizing and facilitating the Sustainability Committee, EcoMotion has taken on a number of unique assignments: Our team managed the repurposing of surplus furniture and office equipment. Large shipping containers full of desks, chairs, tables, etc. had been parked on school property for some time. EcoMotion’s job was to get the material removed, which we did by engaging a partnership with Goodwill. We then went on to tackle composting in the dining hall, now fully implemented. We’ve been involved with a garden initiative at three locations. EcoMotion has also drafted and refined a set of Green Building Guidelines to codify sustainability in all new construction.
Rapid Campus Sustainability Assessments Milton Academy and Moses Brown School - Milton, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island
EcoMotion offers Rapid Campus Sustainability Assessments for campuses that want to get a quick and inexpensive look at how they stack up in terms of sustainability. What STARS rating might they achieve? What needs to be done to shore up operations, or policy, curriculum, or student engagement? At Milton Academy and Moses Brown in 2015, EcoMotion identified and interviewed 15 – 20 key stakeholders on each campus using customized and industry relevant questions. Then we created a campus sustainability profile to gauge efforts to date, assess strengths, and recommend opportunities for next steps based on the unique characteristics of each campus. EcoMotion also provided this targeted service to Central New Mexico Community College.
Sustainability Services St Mark’s School - Southborough, Massachusetts
St. Mark’s School is a co-ed college preparatory school about 25 miles west of Boston. It has benefitted from EcoMotion’s energy on campus, our action-oriented facilitation. Our team began with the formation of the Sustainability Committee, identifying and enlisting stakeholder members, then crafting meeting agenda, drafting a charter and mission statement, and sharing meeting minutes. The committee work led directly to drafting the School’s first comprehensive Sustainability Plan. The Plan includes domains such as governance and engagement, water and energy, and academics and research, each informed by stakeholders across campus life.
EcoMotion has also managed the St. Mark’s Eco-Rep program, known as Students for Sustainability. One of its most exciting initiatives was “Weigh the Waste,” raising awareness about food wasted on campus and specifically in the Dining Hall. Students made videos and all-school announcements to capture and communicate results to the rest of campus.
Mapping Carbon Neutrality Millbrook School - Millbrook, New York
In 2012, EcoMotion was retained to serve as carbon neutrality/solar advisor at Millbrook School, a prep school in Dutchess County, New York. Ultimately a three-phased approach was adopted. The first phase resulted in the completion of a 1.735 MW solar system that now powers the School’s entire annual electricity use. After winning a $1.25 million incentive from the State of New York, EcoMotion helped the school secure a fixed 7.5 cent per kilowatt-hour PPA price for the solar, with a zero percent escalator for 20 years, and Millbrook retains and can retire the RECs.
The second phase targets the space-heating footprint, about 55% of the total campus footprint. This will be accomplished with more geothermal and more insulation, better doors and windows and heightened conservation practices. The third phase involves biofuels, potentially building a digester or cellulosic ethanol facility on campus and harvesting the energy in agricultural wastes from neighboring farms.
Updating the Climate Action Plan Boston Architectural College - Boston, Massachusetts
EcoMotion Campus Services Coordinator, Sierra Flanigan, has served as a Visiting Faculty Member at Boston Architectural College (BAC), instructing architecture students in the field of sustainability. BAC is installing a massive geothermal (“geo-exchange”) system – to a depth two times the height of the nearly Prudential Center – at its busy “Back Bay” location. In 2014, Sierra Flanigan worked closely with students and a teacher’s assistant to update the College’s Climate Action Plan.
The Roots of Sustainability Fisher College - Boston, Massachusetts
Fisher College, located in the Back Bay of Boston, helped define EcoMotion’s turn-key campus services. This working-class institution was ripe for a new emphasis on sustainability that transcended operations and the classrooms. There, faculty and students fully integrated sustainability, cutting costs and engaging students in applied learning. In its first year the program set up communications for students and faculty including a website, built a solid Eco-Reps program, branded the program with a new logo, re-invigorated the campus’ recycling program, and added reusable water bottles to daily life. Students and faculty provided input for an Eco-Rep handbook and engagement form and finalized Fisher’s Strategic Sustainability Plan. A favorite memory from this work was the open mike that students called “Greenstock” with all songs and the theme for the night being the environment.
Campus Sustainability Assessment and STARS Submittal Central New Mexico Community College - Albuquerque, New Mexico
In the spring term of 2009, CNM became the largest postsecondary institution in the State of New Mexico. Housed on nine campuses in the Albuquerque area, CNM surpassed the University of New Mexico for the first time. CNM’s enrollment was 24,621 for college-credit courses, also serving several thousand students with non-credit courses. CNM offers 47 associate degrees that span the arts and sciences and career and technical fields as well as 52 certificates in business, health, technologies, and technical fields.
In 2013, EcoMotion was retained by CNM to facilitate the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS) Report. EcoMotion conducted an initial STARS assessment through an onsite interview and engagement process and then served as a Sustainability Coordinator in gathering data and educating the community through a STARS workshop with over 30 stakeholders from across campus. One-on-one meetings and follow up added guidance and support throughout the five-month process.
CNM earned a rating of 43.02, well above the Bronze-rating threshold of 35. To outline areas for improvement EcoMotion developed a thorough gap analysis to provide insight and recommendations for CNM to strengthen sustainability efforts through the STARS framework. CNM is now well positioned to advance to STARS Silver.
“Eco-Reps” at Bryant, St. Mark’s, and Saint Joseph’s - Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine
EcoMotion’s “Eco-Rep” program is strong and vibrant, harnessing and directing the power of youth toward environmental responsibility and action. Self-selected, voluntary Eco-Reps have outlet for their activism, and comrades. At Bryant, the EcoMotion-led “Sustainability Ambassadors” have been active on campus for several years, with growing numbers of students interested and committed. At St Mark’s the “Students for Sustainability” take action on a number of fronts, including recycling at the school’s recent centennial. In Maine, at Saint Joseph’s College, EcoMotion-managed Eco-Reps are organizing events, raising awareness, and advocating environmental responsibility on campus.
Green Energy Entrepreneurs Series College of the Desert and the Inland Empire College District - Chino Hills, San Bernardino, and Riverside
In 2015, EcoMotion was hired by two community college districts to carry our their shared vision of promoting careers in the green space. To so so, we would feature advanced technologies, and some advanced thinkers! Four workshops were held on emerging energy technologies… from solar to storage. One of the highlights of the series was a session that included the perspectives Joe Desmond, now with Brightsource and former chair of the California Energy Commission.
The Climate Action Crew - Coachella Valley, California
EcoMotion had the privilege to develop greenhouse gas inventories, energy action plans, and climate action plans for six desert cities and a tribe in the Coachella Valley in Southern California. A colorful and highly successful component of the initiative was the creation and deployment of Green for Life project interns, known as “the Climate Action Crew.” Managed by EcoMotion, the crew was made up of 18 interns, many from College of the Desert in Palm Desert. With training and organization that we provided, the Crew played an important outreach role in its members’ own and neighboring communities. They were the “human shield” at council meetings. In addition to supporting EcoMotion data collection, crew members developed an Energy Action Pledge to capture the interest and commitment of the individuals they met. And they had a large display for some events, EcoMotion’s Emissions Time Bomb.
The Solar Squad Solar Santa Monica - City of Santa Monica
One of EcoMotion’s fondest memories is the work we did with high school and college-age, solar enthusiasts in Santa Monica. EcoMotion’s Tiffany Tay fielded a 12-student “Solar Squad” in Santa Monica that went door-to-door promoting solar in the summer of 2009, especially for those homes with the most advantageous roofs. A list of “good solar roofs” was developed by our team, for potential further use, such as a letter from the Mayor asking, “Do you know that your roof has been rated high for its solar potential?” The Squad visited over 5,000 homes, had over 1,500 solar conversations, and mapped the best roofs in town.
Sustainability at Wheaton College - Norton, Massachusetts
EcoMotion’s campus service was born at Wheaton College. In addition to a fostering sustainability on campus through inter-dormitory contests and student government, there, Sierra Flanigan, Ally Andrews, Chad Mirmelli, and others conceived and developed the Murphy Apple Orchard initiative as a potent symbol of both education (Newton) and sustainability as an edible landscape. Now six years old, the Orchard has become a vibrant living-learning laboratory and sustainability is built into the campus fabric. EcoMotion continues to foster the Orchard and its legacy while urging the College to greater and greater sustainability gains.