At Log Lunch on Friday, September 23, we heard from Todd Holland, the Projects and Operations Manager at Hampshire College. Mr. Holland worked at Williams College for four years in the Zilkha Center and Facilities Department, where he oversaw the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency retrofits such as LED lighting and building insulation. During his time at Williams, he also coached the cycling team. Mr. Holland is a Professional Engineer licensed in six states, an avid cycler and support of cyclists.
During his talk entitled “How a Small Liberal Arts College, with Limited Resources, made a bold move into Solar that will slash most of its Carbon Emissions in a Single Project,” Holland spoke to the students, faculty and community members about his work at Hampshire College. He discussed how Hampshire’s president has signed “The American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment” and has pledged to end all of the college’s emissions by 2022. Hampshire is working to involve students and faculty in the process as a learning opportunity.
“Hampshire students have not lived through a normal climate year,” stated Steve Roof, the Dean of the School of Natural Science at Hampshire. The climate has been changing, and it is impacting the Hampshire College and Amherst College and town area. Currently, the area is suffering from a major drought. Due to climate impacts recognized in the area, the President of Hampshire College has said: “Yes in my backyard” to build energy establishment. Hampshire is, therefore, building a solar panel field front and center on campus.
There are many incentives to create this solar field other than the environmental benefits. According to Holland, Massachusetts support for solar power is very strong. Also, the cost of solar panels has dropped, and Hampshire has partnered with SolarCity (soon to be Tesla) for the project.
Part of this project is to create a wildflower habitat for bees and small animals beneath the panels and to hope to improve soil condition after 20 years. Faculty members at Hampshire will be monitoring the soil as the project moves forward. Holland hopes to remain at Hampshire to see the outcome of this project and help support the college in pursuing further green initiatives.
– Caroline Beckmann ’17