AMHERST — Around $9.5 million in grants are coming to the University of Massachusetts for renewable energy initiatives on the Amherst campus.
Tilman Wolf, deputy chancellor for Operational and Organizational Strategies, told the Faculty Senate at its May 7 meeting that the money will help UMass continue to be a leader in sustainability.
The larger of the grants is for $7.3 million to fund a multi-stage heat pump that will provide about 10% of the steam used on the campus.
The university is contributing an additional $11 million for these heat pump upgrades.
The idea of this project is to reduce the dependence on the central heating plant and its use of pipeline gas.
Another $2.2 million is coming from the Department of Energy Resources to place solar canopies in Lot 28, off Mullins Way and between the Mullins Center and the Amherst Wastewater Treatment Plant.
This will provide 1.5-megawatts of power, joining several other parking lots on campus that already have solar panels above the parking spaces.
