Housing authority sells carbon credits

Unity College makes 250-ton purchase

By George Chappell

April 23, 2008

OF THE NEWS STAFF

UNITY--  The Maine State Housing Authority is going into the business of selling carbon emissions credits, and Unity college has agreed to buy them.

     The college signed a pact on Tuesday with the housing authority to buy 250 tons of carbon a year for a period of five years.  The agreement was signed in a ceremony at the college on Earth Day.

     "Unity College planted a seed at MaineHousing that has grown into a project and a journey," said MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick at the signing ceremony at Quimby Library.

     The housing authority will use the funds it receives to create additional affordable, environmentally sound, energy-efficient housing.

     The collaboration marks the first such carbon emission reduction in the state.  The housing authority is the first state housing authority in the U.S. to require Green Building Standards for all the housing the agency finances, McCormick said.

     "I figured we must have tons of carbon lying around," she said.  For instance, weatherizing a home and replacing a pre-1976 mobile home each create energy savings that translate to 1 ton of carbon a year.

     Carbon credits develop from caps set on greenhouse gas emissions.  When the caps are not reached, credits for the remaining amounts can be assigned a monetary value and traded or sold.

     According to college Vice President for College Advancement Robert Constantine, a better way to refer to the agreement is as a carbon offset program.  A carbon offset allows businesses and individuals to reduce their own carbon dioxide emissions by reducing CO2 emissions in another place.

     In this case, Unity College will offset CO2 emissions the college is responsible for by funding the reduction of CO2 emissions at buildings MaineHousing managed, Constantine said.

    A carbon credit is the measurable unit, usually one metric ton of CO2, by which MaineHousing reduces its CO2 emissions.

     "We then purchase a number of credits -- in this case 250 -- to offset our own emissions by 250 tons of CO2," he said.

     The housing authority participates in a voluntary carbon credits program.  The college is buying credits the housing authority has saved, according to Constantine.

     Mccormick said that as she researched the carbon markets, she soon realized that in order to sell the carbon, the agency would have to measure it, have it certified by a third party, and register each ton.

     "And so we have embarked on the journey I mentioned to create a program to measure the carbon reductions," she said.  "We are the first state housing authority to do so and have enlisted the support of our sister agency in Pennsylvania."

     McCormick is focusing on five areas of Maine housing authority activity:

     * Affordable energy-efficient replacement program for pre-1976 mobile homes.

     * Weatherizing homes.

     * Solar thermal retrofit on affordable multifamily buildings.

     * Home energy loan program.

     * New construction and rehabilitation with green standards.

     "This is a winning situation for everyone," said McCormick.  "It creates funds for more energy efficient affordable housing, it contributes to further reductions in carbon emissions, and it extends the benefits of the carbon market to low-income people."

     In response to a question about the delay in getting such a program started, Catherine Lee, managing director of Lee International and carbon marketing consultasnt to MaineHousing, said, "The [Bush] administration hasn't taken the issue seriously.  We've been very slow in the United States to recognize this problem."

     Last year the college signed the American College & University Presidents Climate commitment, which requires colleges and universities to eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions.  As part of this effort Unity College will offset air travel of employees by purchasing carbon emission reductions.

     Constantine said Tuesday he purchase connects Maine people with the nuts and bolts of environmentalism.

     "Environmentalism often is seen in abstract terms, with carbon credit dollars going to benefit environmental projects in the foreign countries," Constantine said.  "Keeping carbon credit dollars within the state of Maine to benefit local communities is precisely the kind of 'real world' environmentalism that is a fundamental part of the Unity College approach."