Bowdoin College is celebrating another step forward in its ongoing plan to become carbon neutral by 2020 with a recently completed, $100,000+ insulation retrofit project on 12 of the College’s mechanical rooms — the pipe-filled basement areas of campus buildings through which steam is pumped to provide heat. “This project is a win-win for the college,” says Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration & Treasurer S. Catherine Longley, who chairs the campus Sustainability Implementation Committee.Longley. “We recognize now, during the winter heating season, that Bowdoin is saving a significant amount in energy costs, more than $80,000 a year, while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions annually by almost 400 tons.” Furthermore, she adds, the project is expected to have paid for itself in less than 16 months.