The sun will shine a little bit brighter on seven public college campuses thanks to grants awarded through a competitive state program. The green energy grants are managed at the state Office of Financial Management, which awarded $1 million in this second and final round for the 2007-09 biennium.
State agencies that are already building or renovating buildings were encouraged to apply. The projects were then scored by an interagency committee to select those expected to provide the best value.
Projects selected in this round of grants are:
Central Washington University — $120,000 to add solar panels to Ellensburg’s Community Solar Project, a system used in Ellensburg’s K-12 and the college’s engineering and science curriculum.
Clark College — $50,745 for 12 solar panels and two wind turbines for alternative energy to be integrated in Clark’s science and engineering, electronics and power utilities technologies programs.
Pierce College (Steilacoom campus) — $150,000 for solar panels on the Rainier Science and Math Building to generate power and to be integrated in science courses.
Skagit Valley College — $264,650 for solar panels on the roof of the new Science and Allied Health Building to generate power and to be integrated in the college’s science curriculum.
South Puget Sound Community College — $96,305 for a solar array on the roof of the new Natural Sciences Complex, which will feature laboratories; faculty offices; classrooms for chemistry, biology, physics, anatomy/physiology, botany and mathematics; and general classroom space.
Tacoma Community College — $243,300 for solar panels to generate power to recharge its zero-emission electric trucks and other hybrid vehicles.
The Evergreen State College — $75,000 for solar panels on the roof of the Daniel J. Evans Library to generate power and to be incorporated in the “Curriculum for the Bioregion,” a collaboration of 18 regional colleges working on environmental quality and sustainability.
Funding for the grants came from the 2007–09 operating budget that set aside $1 million for each fiscal year. Last year’s grants went to the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell and the School for the Blind in Vancouver for solar panels.
The Office of Financial Management is charged with developing and tracking budgets for other state agencies. Budgets are considered and passed by the state Legislature, and signed into law by the governor. Headquartered in Olympia, OFM employs accountants, bookkeepers, budget and policy analysts and other professionals to manage operating budgets totaling $59.9 billion and capital, or construction, budgets totaling $11.5 billion (including transportation construction) for the 2007–09 biennium.