DOE's Solar Decathlon Offsets Visitor's Travel Emissions

October 17, 2013 /3BL Media/ - The Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, a collegiate home building competition, lowered the carbon footprint of the event by purchasing carbon offsets from TerraPass to mitigate estimated greenhouse gas emissions created by attendee travel.

The Southern California Institute of Architecture, on behalf of the attendees of  the Solar Decathlon, offset 1,036,162 lbs of CO2e through TerraPass to balance emissions from driving and flying to the event. That is equivalent to the electricity use of 71 homes in the US for one year (EPA.gov).   

The competition aims to educate students about the money saving and environmental benefits of using solar energy to power homes. The Solar Decathlon ran October 3 through 13, 2013 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA.

http://www.solardecathlon.gov/

About TerraPass
Everyone needs a home, food, and a way to travel. Even after you’ve done your best to reduce through action, some of these activities will emit greenhouse gases. Carbon offsets let you help build projects in communities across the country that reduces emissions beyond what you could achieve through personal action. Offsets make environmental and economic sense: for emissions that are impossible to reduce, you can use funds to help reduce emissions elsewhere. TerraPass projectshelp businesses and individuals reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by creating carbon offsets, renewable energy credits (RECs) and sustainable energy. We believe everyone can take action to fight climate change.