The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen the University of Central Florida as a national example of the best green initiatives happening at colleges and universities nationwide.

Department of Energy representatives are visiting the UCF campus Tuesday for an 11 a.m. press conference featuring UCF’s solar carport plug-in facility used to charge electric vehicles.

At the event, the Ford Motor Co. also will make its Florida debut of a new hybrid version of the Ford Escape.

Among UCF’s other other green projects:

  • A thermal energy storage facility, which will save UCF $700,000 per year in energy costs
  • The green roof on the campus’ Student Union building
  • The UCF student housing energy savings competition known as “Kill-A-Watt”
  • UCF’s solar-powered fleet car
  • Solar panels installed on the Engineering I building
  • The Florida Solar Energy Center at UCF’s Cocoa campus
  • Award-winning student research projects such as a wind turbine maximizer and a portable solar energy collector

    • The University of Central Florida is the third-largest university in the nation with more than 53,500 students.

    Source: Orlando Business Journal, American City Business Journals Inc., Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 10:23am EST