College and University Challenge
Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, EPA's Green Power Partnership tracked the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power usage in the nation. The College and University Green Power Challenge is open to any collegiate athletic conference in the United States.
On April 22, 2019, EPA concluded the Green Power Challenge and recognized the Champion Green Power Conference, as well as the largest individual green power users within each participating conference. The Champion Green Power Conference for the 2018-19 Challenge is the Big Ten Conference and the individual school using the most green power is the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York.
Interested in joining the 2019-20 Green Power Challenge? Check out our Steps to Join Green Power Partnership page for more information. To be listed, a conference must have at least two Green Power Partners and using an aggregate of at least 10 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power across the conference.
This list is current as of April 22, 2019. This is the final update to the 2018-19 College and University Green Power Challenge. Thank you and congratulations to all participating schools!
Individual Conference Champions
The following colleges and universities were recognized as conference champions for using the most green power among the schools in their conference. EPA applauds these schools for taking a leadership role in their conference and in supporting a better environmental future:
| School | Partner kWh | Conference | Conference kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Maryland | 146,567,825 | Big Ten Conference | 515,597,364 |
| University at Buffalo, the State University of New York | 224,325,000 | Mid-American Conference | 284,864,865 |
| Stanford University | 159,626,907 | Pac-12 Conference | 283,370,301 |
| University of Tennessee, Knoxville | 158,044,000 | Southeastern Conference | 262,045,209 |
| University of Oklahoma | 135,692,000 | Big 12 Conference | 249,048,867 |
| University of Pennsylvania | 200,000,000 | Ivy League | 222,267,057 |
| Georgetown University | 159,499,000 | Big East Conference | 173,541,074 |
| University of Virginia | 70,936,294 | Atlantic Coast Conference | 143,740,477 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 132,396,967 | University Athletic Association | 132,486,021 |
| George Washington University | 78,393,980 | Atlantic 10 | 113,870,994 |
| University of North Texas | 107,250,000 | Conference USA | 112,875,000 |
| University of Vermont | 57,716,250 | America East | 107,975,250 |
| Drexel University | 87,766,000 | Colonial Athletic Association | 105,766,000 |
| American University | 59,476,806 | Patriot League | 101,253,633 |
| Gettysburg College | 20,000,000 | Centennial Conference | 85,216,600 |
| Union College | 21,045,061 | Liberty League | 68,905,814 |
| Bentley University | 25,000,000 | Northeast-10 Conference | 58,013,063 |
| Santa Clara University | 25,002,551 | West Coast Conference | 54,657,906 |
| The Catholic University of America | 37,881,775 | Landmark Conference | 48,881,775 |
| Temple University | 44,000,000 | American Athletic Conference | 44,450,000 |
| St. Mary's College of Maryland | 22,012,968 | Capital Athletic Conference | 38,796,968 |
| Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis | 20,296,566 | Horizon League | 38,679,958 |
| Colby College | 14,499,262 | New England Small College Athletic Conference | 38,583,098 |
| University of Colorado Colorado Springs | 19,538,465 | Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | 37,571,940 |
| Mercyhurst University | 13,000,000 | Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | 35,228,655 |
| Southwestern University | 18,153,095 | Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference | 31,706,952 |
| Allegheny College | 13,740,398 | North Coast Athletic Conference | 29,434,662 |
| Whitman College | 17,425,778 | Northwest Conference | 29,304,487 |
| Emerson College | 25,000,000 | New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference | 27,325,399 |
| University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point | 25,749,090 | Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 27,299,090 |
| St. Olaf College | 17,454,544 | Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 23,189,544 |
| Lebanon Valley College | 10,000,000 | Middle Atlantic Conference | 16,666,000 |
| Rider University | 13,500,000 | Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference | 16,485,458 |
| Northern Arizona University | 9,542,858 | Big Sky Conference | 15,743,195 |
| Emory & Henry College | 7,817,310 | Old Dominion Athletic Conference | 11,974,310 |
* Schools ranked by amount of green power used by entire athletic conference.
Collective Conference Champions
At nearly 516 million kWh, the Big Ten Conference topped the list with the largest total amount of green power used among all conferences and earned EPA’s recognition as the 2018-19 Collective Conference Champion. The contributing schools for this honor included:
| Big Ten Conference | ||
|---|---|---|
| School | Green Power (kWh) | % Green Power |
| University of Maryland | 146,567,825 | 53 |
| Northwestern University | 100,370,800 | 39 |
| The Ohio State University | 85,505,575 | 14 |
| University of Wisconsin | 64,424,214 | 14 |
| University of Minnesota | 57,800,000 | 16 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 30,533,994 | 7 |
| Michigan State University | 17,400,000 | 7 |
| University of Iowa | 12,994,956 | 4 |
Competing Conferences
The following athletic conferences are participating in the 2018-19 College & University Green Power Challenge:
Printable versions of final College & University Green Power Challenge rankings are also available.
Learn how your organization can join the Green Power Partnership and become a Top Partner.