IMAGINE EXETER IN 2050

Here’s what our zero carbon campus might look like.

Everything will run on electricity! From our fleet of campus vehicles (buses, gators, pickups) and equipment (snowblowers, lawn mowers) to appliances (stoves and clothes driers in faculty housing). Charging stations will be omnipresent.

The all-electric heating and cooling systems will be powered by geothermal wells rather than fossil fuels.

Expanded climate education curriculum inspires new student-led projects on campus, like dorm composting and wetland restoration.

Solar panels on academic buildings and residences will generate clean, renewable behind-the-meter electricity, supplemented by off-campus power purchase aggreements and renewable energy certificates.

the grounds equipment technology is there. And then what are you left with? Well, you’re left with supplying the electricity needed to power everything via renewable electricity. That technology exists too.”

It is a more daunting task to convert an Exeter nearing its 250th anniversary. Some of its 2 million square feet of buildings date to Grover Cleveland’s second presidential term. “It’s a radical re-imagining of our building systems at a real large scale,” Biggins says. “And that’s why we’ve got to start thinking about this stuff because it’s not something that can be done in a summer.”

The third goal, sustainability integration, focuses on the day-to-day operations of the school and its community. From quantifying the amount of water used and developing strategies to reduce consumption, to adding electric-vehicle chargers at parking locations across campus, to increasing campus’ waste diversion rate, every facet of campus life is considered.

A Living Document

The plan is meant to be updated at least every five years with progress reported against the stated goals. Biggins calls the plan “a living document” and says its next iteration will have more specifics informed by the work that is done. “We’re going to be updating it in a formal way to guide our steps through the next five, 10, 15, 20 years on the way to 2050,” he says. As the plan states in the concluding paragraph, “our actions will determine whether or not we achieve our goals.”

Helfand, the Academy trustee, calls the plan an essential and praiseworthy first step. “Along with the danger of nuclear war, the climate crisis is one of the two great existential threats facing humanity today,” he says. “How we deal with these threats will be the defining narrative of the 21st century.

“Some of the steps that we have to take will be expensive and they will involve sacrifice. But the science is clear. Exeter and society as a whole are going to have to make major changes in the way we live. I am very proud that the Academy is addressing this challenge head-on.” E