University Procurement Services and the Office of Sustainability presented Voith Hydro Inc. with the Procurement Partner Sustainability Award during a ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Corbett Family Hall. The award is given annually to a supplier that has aided in the University’s sustainability efforts through new and innovative products or services.
Voith Hydro provided the turbines used for the University’s 2.5-megawatt hydroelectric facility, ND Hydro, along the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend. The installation of 10 of Voith’s 250-kilowatt StreamDiver compact propeller turbines marked the first such use in North America, offering a low-maintenance and oil-free alternative in the field of hydropower.
ND Hydro will generate an estimated 7 percent of the electricity for campus and offset 9,700 tons of carbon dioxide annually, benefiting both the University and surrounding community. The hydro facility is one aspect of Notre Dame’s overall sustainability strategy, which, consistent with its Catholic mission and values and the pope’s encyclical on climate change, seeks to reduce campus carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
Notre Dame’s Procurement Partner Sustainability Award was presented to Stanley Kocon, president and CEO of Voith Hydro North America, by Executive Vice President Shannon Cullinan. Voith is the fifth recipient of the award following the 2016 announcement of a comprehensive sustainability strategy by University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.