Director, Sustainable Energy Services

Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence and nondiscrimination in its educational program and employment practices and encourages candidates who will further advance the goal of fostering a diverse and inclusive community. As one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning, Swarthmore College is global in outlook and draws students from around the nation and world. The 425‐acre campus is a designated arboretum, complete with gardens, rolling lawns, a creek, wooded hills, and hiking trails in the Crum Woods.

Who We Are:

Swarthmore College is engaged in an aspirational and robust capital planning and construction program that includes replacing the College’s combustion steam district energy system with district carbon-free geoexchange, retiring the College’s Accumulated Deferred Maintenance through the Campus Renewal Program, and the adaptive reuse of Martin Hall. Planning efforts are underway for significant, phased upgrades to the College’s Athletics Complex. The College has recently completed a strategic plan that has led to a campus master planning effort to guide the next decade of the capital program. All this is conducted with a sharp focus on environmental sustainability and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It is an exciting time to be at Swarthmore College!

The Swarthmore College campus includes over 70 buildings and 1,900,000 square feet of space on 425 acres, including the bucolic Scott Arboretum. This effort is overseen by a dedicated group of facilities management professionals who steward the campus and the Scott Arboretum. The College seeks a Director of Sustainable Energy Services, who is an integral member of the facilities management leadership team and who will continue to guide the College toward its carbon-free future.

The opportunity:

The Director of Sustainable Energy Services is responsible for planning and technical oversight of all campus energy matters and systems. This includes planning, project management and technical guidance for all aspects of the To Zero (carbon) by Thirty-five (20X35) energy master plan which is transitioning the campus from district steam heating from combustion to district heating and cooling from geoexchange, planning for other energy initiatives, energy procurement program, campus energy management program, energy related regulatory/compliance and documentation of infrastructure systems. The Director is accountable for managing approximately $4 million annual energy commodity budget. The Director has project management duties for the 20X35 energy plan effort and works closely with the maintenance department.

Essential Responsibilities

• Leadership of the 20X35 energy plan with ongoing planning to ensure successful completion.  Be conversant with all technical work performed to date.  Recommend, guide and/or provide any further analysis needed in order to coordinate the successful completion of the 10-year conversion process on time and within budget.  Identify in the plan when milestones such as the timing for the future expansion of the geoexchange plant and wellfield, distribution system, order of building connection, the shutdown of the central steam system and electrical supply systems improvements occur.
• Project management.  Act as the college’s project manager for the central geoexchange facility and well field.  Monitor the progress of construction to ensure quality work in accordance with all technical specifications.  Oversee the commissioning process.  Manage other projects in support of Maintenance.  Complete projects on time and within budget.
• Primary engineering and Technical/Operational support for the College.  Provide engineering guidance and operational expertise specifically for the 20X35 energy plan projects and for all other energy systems and infrastructure to ensure efficient and reliable operation.  Work to update and/or create system design standards as needed. 
• Energy management.  Define and implement a campus energy management program.  Develop and implement the monitoring of campus buildings and central systems via the building automation system to ensure efficient use of energy with a near term focus on the new Geoexchange conversion. Assist with