Castleton is leading the way to a greener future, one-carbon footprint at a time. This summer, Castleton State College was the first college in the country to install wind turbines, which reside atop the new Hoff Hall dormitory.
The wind turbines are another addition to Castleton’s Green Campus Initiative, which was put in motion back in 2005. Since then Castleton has surpassed many goals to educate students on this initiative and create an environmentally friendly college.
“I personally reduce my carbon footprint by saving paper, recycling, reusing water bottles and not wasting power by unplugging electronic items,” said Alexa Platts, a resident of Hoff Hall.
The wind turbines were installed this summer and have been in motion ever since. “The wind turbines produce about one kilowatt, enough energy to power a house,” said Scott Dikeman, chair of the Sustainability Group and dean of administration at Castleton.
He said Castleton has joined forces with Green Mountain Power to help maintain the new source of energy.
“Technically, the wind turbines do not power Hoff Hall. The power they generate is circulated back into the grid … The turbines are tied into their own proprietary software called Measurez that gives us a live data about how much power the turbines are generating,” Dikeman said.
But despite the unprecedented step toward a greener future, many students are unaware of what the wind turbines are capable of, but are excited by their presence.
“I think it is pretty cool. We are a green campus, it shows that we care!” said Isaac French.
Dikeman agrees.
“I think it’s a great chance for us to reduce our carbon footprint. It’s a chance for us to reduce our energy cost. It is a chance for us to be innovative, relative to sustainable technology,” Dikeman said
In addition to the wind turbines, solar panels were installed atop of Hoff during the construction phase last summer.
“We are excited and we hope to see more!” Dikeman said enthusiastically.