Verified Carbon offsets and other environmental attribute certificates

The University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire verified carbon offsets and other environmental attribute certificates. The primary goal is to obtain legitimate, additional verified carbon offset credits from the voluntary carbon market, with an anticipated annual need of 180,000 offset credits. The University also seeks to source Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), Solar RECs (SRECs), Renewable Thermal Credits (RTCs), and Renewable Fuel Certificates (RFCs) to help meet its renewable energy goals. The RFP outlines detailed technical criteria, including the ability to provide verified carbon credits and other environmental attribute certificates generated by certified projects, manage dedicated offset registry sub-accounts, and involve students, faculty, and staff in hands-on learning opportunities. Preferred qualifications include the ability to provide comparable substitute credits, verified credits from projects in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region, and credits demonstrating climate change resilience and community-level economic or public health co-benefits. The RFP has a pre-proposal conference scheduled for May 3, 2024, and proposals are due on June 4, 2024. The contract term is 3 years with the option to renew for up to two additional 1-year terms.

The RFP indicates that the University may make multiple awards to bolster its capabilities to offset greenhouse gas emissions and meet renewable energy requirements. Pricing terms for the various environmental attributes must remain valid for at least 30 days, preferably 60 days. The University is open to alternative proposals beyond the minimum requirements and is interested in projects with climate change resilience and community co-benefits. The contract may also allow orders to be placed by other institutions in the University System of Maryland, with required volumes of 75,000-100,000 RECs for Tier 1 and 15,000-20,000 RECs for Tier 2, as well as 15,000-20,000 SRECs.