Energy Infrastructure

Envision has been used to support the development of energy projects for more than a decade. These projects have emphasized reduced negative impacts on the environment, fostered infrastructure integration and resiliency, and recognized the importance of community and stakeholder involvement.

The framework helps achieve other objectives on energy projects well, such as ensuring alignment with organization-wide sustainability initiatives, and obtaining public recognition of projects that make significant contributions to sustainability, resiliency, and equity. We provide three illustrations of energy sector projects below, and invite you to visit our Project Awards Directory for more projects.

ENERGY PROJECT: Bear Creek Solar

ENERGY PROJECT: West Campus Utility Plant

ENERGY PROJECT: Tucannon River Wind Farm

Renewable Energy and Envision

Envision has a specific focus on renewal energy through Credit RA2.3 – Use Renewable Energy. While reducing energy use is the primary goal, a net-zero energy society will require significant investment in renewable energy sources.

Renewable energy may include:

  • solar energy (thermal heating, both active and passive, and photovoltaic);
  • wind (electricity generation);
  • water (hydro or tidal for electricity generation);
  • biomass (electricity generation or as fuels);
  • geothermal (electricity generation or heating and cooling);
  • hydrogen/fuel cells (used as a fuel); and
  • renewable transportation fuel or electric vehicle use.

Credit RA3.3 encourages projects to meet at least 5% of energy needs (electricity or fuel) through renewable sources — either generated on-site, purchased in fuels, or purchased from the grid through a direct purchase agreement. Projects receive more points as the the percentage increases, with the most sustainable projects generating a net positive amount of renewable energy.

RA2.3 is one of four energy related credits within the Resource Allocation category of Envision. Here are some examples of Envision projects that attained a high level achievement in this credit area.

PROJECT EXAMPLE: DIGESTER GAS UTILIZATION
A combined-cycle cogeneration system converts 7.5 million cubic feet of biogenic digester gas produced daily at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant (HWRP) in Los Angeles, California to electricity and steam, which is used as the primary renewable fuel source to meet the plant’s power and heating demands. Called the HWRP Digester Gas Utilization Project (Envision Platinum, 2018), this project reduced the facility’s carbon footprint and lowered operating expenses as the plant was able to reduce the amount of electricity and steam it imports for its operations. Details.

PROJECT EXAMPLE: RENEWAL ENERGY PLUS BATTERY STORAGE
Azure Sky Solar Project operated by Enel North America is a combined solar + storage project (Envision Gold, 2024) with 700,000 photovoltaic (PV) bi-facial panels generating over 586 GWh each year. That’s equivalent to the electricity use of over 55,000 homes, thereby avoiding the equivalent of more than 386,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. The integrated battery energy storage system (BESS), with a capacity of 95 MW / 116 MWh, was incorporated early as one of the key sustainability enhancements. Details.

PROJECT EXAMPLE: WATER SOURCE GEOTHERMAL
A lake formed in an abandoned quarry near the Nashville International Airport in Tennessee, long considered a liability for the Airport Authority, was turned into a beneficial resource with the implementation of a Water Source Geothermal project (Envision Silver, 2017). By harnessing the chilled water of the quarry lake, the Airport Authority was able to save more than $430,000 in electricity costs per year, a 50% improvement over the baseline that was established for the project. Details.

Contact Us

Contact ISI with questions about Envision use. Access our Contact Us page.