Solar Kickoff

University of Denver Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, the Sustainability Council and Facilities Management & Planning today celebrated a major milestone for sustainability with it's Solar Kickoff.

The event was held east of the Dan Ritchie Garden on the west side of York Street. The kickoff included a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the solar tree and remarks by Chancellor Haefner, Chad King, director of sustainability, James Rosner, associate vice chancellor for Facilities Management & Planning and a student close to the project. Today's ceremony marks the beginning of DU's project to install more than 7,000 solar panels across campus in support of the DU IMPACT 2025 pledge to enhance sustainable practices and reduce the University's carbon footprint.

The solar panels will be across 18 DU buildings, including two new buildings opening in 2020, the Dimond Family Residential Village and Burwell Center for Career Achievement. The panels will account for 7-8% of DU’s energy consumption, surpassing the goal of producing 5% of campus electricity on-site through renewable energy.