Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 10 : Fall 2011 | Page 76

UMPI
Begins
2011-2012
Academic
Year with
Major
Projects
and Events

Officials unveiled a new
plaque at the Houlton Higher
Education Center during its
10th anniversary celebration
on Sept. 1. Taking part in
the unveiling are, from left,
U.S. Congressman Michael
H. Michaud, UMPI President
Don Zillman, Philip Bosse of
U.S. Senator Susan M. Collins’
office, and Jackie White, an
NMCC and UMPI alumni
who took most of her classes
at the Houlton Center.
76 UMPI FALL 2011

Renewable
energy,
an
educational milestone, and a focus
on alums made for a busy start to
the 2011-2012 academic year at the
University of Maine at Presque Isle.

This fall, the University completed
its Pullen Hall Renovation Project,
celebrated the 10th anniversary of its
Houlton Higher Education Center, and
welcomed alums back for its annual
Homecoming festivities.

The University is putting
brand new renewable energy
systems to work this semester with

the successful completion in late
August of its Pullen Hall Renovation
project. The $2.3 million project for
one of the University’s two major
classroom buildings included the
installation of 99 solar panels on the
roof and a biomass boiler system in
the basement. University officials
received a $750,000 Department of
Conservation Maine Forest Service
wood-to-energy grant for the biomass
boiler system, and $800,000 from the
U.S. Department of Energy as part of
the Fiscal Year 2010 Energy and Water
Appropriations Bill for its solar project.
The new systems are helping to reduce
the University’s carbon footprint and
annual electric bill. Work is being done
now to finalize an automated weather
station that collects information on
solar radiation levels. This information
is being provided to the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory in
Golden, Colorado, as baseline data
for the study of the future use of solar
energy.

The University’s Houlton
Higher Education Center marked its
10th anniversary with a celebration
event on Thursday, Sept. 1. The event
included a keynote address by U.S.
Congressman Michael Michaud, as
well as a Native blessing and the
unveiling of a new granite installation
at the building’s entrance. The Houlton