Oberlin College Hosts the 2022 Green Energy Ohio Awards; Receives Green Achievement Award for Academia

Oberlin College will host the 2022 Green Energy Ohio Awards ceremony and reception on Thursday, June 9 in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. Hecate Energy will serve as the presenting sponsor of the event, which will take place from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. The keynote presentation will be delivered by Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology John Petersen, who will share information about the Oberlin Environmental Dashboard, which is designed to make the invisible flows of water and electricity through communities visible and engaging.

Each year, Green Energy Ohio presents Green Achievement Awards to individuals, businesses, universities, nonprofits, and government and community entities for the work they have accomplished in advancing GEO’s mission. They are the innovators, collaborators, educators, and leaders in their respective fields throughout Ohio.

Oberlin College will be recognized as the recipient of the Green Achievement Award for Academia. Also receiving awards are Solar United Neighbors of Ohio for Nonprofit, GOJO Industries for Business, and the City of Oberlin for Community/Government.

Oberlin College became one of the first institutions of higher learning to sign the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitment in 2006 and is currently working toward a goal of carbon neutrality by 2025.

In 2021, the Oberlin College Board of Trustees approved geothermal as the college’s carbon neutral energy source through the Sustainable Infrastructure Program (SIP). The SIP calls for conversion to approximately 1,100 geothermal wells as the common source of heating and cooling across campus, as well as upgrading infrastructure and retrofitting buildings to accommodate the new system. The SIP will reduce the college’s water use by more than 5 million gallons per year and improve campus energy efficiency by more than 30 percent.

In addition to a robust, multi-disciplinary Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin students are leaders of the Green EDGE Fund, developing, financing, and implementing projects within the College and the City of Oberlin that promote sustainability, environmental education, and resource conservation.

Green Energy Ohio is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable energy policies, technologies, and practices of value to Ohio’s economy and environment.