Making Headlines: Stanford Energy System Innovations

The Stanford Energy System Innovations (SESI) program encompassed infrastructure updates to more than 155 buildings on campus and completely transformed the university’s energy supply. Below is a complete list of recognitions related to this energy metamorphosis. 

• Acterra Business Environmental Award | Environmental Project (2016)
• Alliance to Save Energy | Energy Efficiency Visionary Awards (2016)
• American Institute of Architects | 2017 Committee on the Environment Top Ten Projects
• American Institute of Architects, California Council | 2016 Honor Award
• American Institute of Architects, Portland Chapter | 2015 Architecture Awards
• American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter | 2016 Honor Award
• APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities | Effective and Innovative Practices Award (2013)
• Engineering News-Record | Editors’ Choice and Best Energy/Industrial Project (2015)
• Engineering News-Record | Global Best Project: Green Project Category (2015)
• ENR California | 2015 Best Project: Energy/Industrial
• Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards Program | Award in the category of Climate Change (2016)
• Green Power Challenge, US Environmental Protection Agency | 2019 Pac-12 Champion
• Green Power Leadership Award, US Environmental Protection Agency | 2017 Direct Project Engagement category
• Structural Engineers Association of Northern California | 2016 Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards: Award of Merit, Infrastructure Category

News Coverage

• Architectural Record“ | Power Play: A state-of-the-art complex fuels a campus while serving as a teaching tool“
• Business Officer (A publication of the National Association of College and University Business Officers) | “Resource Reshuffle”
• Energy and Environmental Science | “City-scale decarbonization experiments with integrated energy systems“
• Energy Manager Today | “Future is bright for solar at Stanford”
• Environment America | “Building Electrification“
• EPRI Journal | “Electric University“
• Financial Times | “We’ve created a pathway for decarbonisation at Stanford University“
• Gizmag | “New heat recovery system makes Stanford one of the world’s most energy efficient unis“
• Greentech Media | “California universities are transitioning to all-electric buildings“
• International District Energy Association | “Stanford University’s ‘fourth generation’ district energy system“
• My Climate Journey: A Podcast for Those Seeking to Understand Climate Change and How to Help | “An Interview with Joseph Stagner, Executive Director of Sustainability and Energy Management at Stanford University“
• NREL: A Guide to Energy Master Planning of High-Performance Districts and Communities | “A Case Study“
• PHCP Pros | “The water energy nexus and geothermal systems“
• San Francisco Chronicle | “Powering Stanford’s campus with solar panels, 22 miles of pipe“
• Slate | “Stanford 1, Harvard 0“
• Stanford News | “New Stanford energy system cuts greenhouse gas emissions 68 percent“ “Stanford unveils innovative solar generating station”“Stanford issues statement on climate ahead of Paris conference“”Sun+rooftop photovoltaic panels=electricity for Stanford“”Stanford to go 100 percent solar by 2021“”Campus energy advances can be optimized, replicated“
• The Stanford Daily | “Stanford Energy System Innovations project started“”Solar panels to make up half of campus electricity supply by 2017“
• Ubergizmo | “Stanford has a heat recovery system that makes it energy efficient“