Energy Best Practices for Campus

From ClimateNetworkWiki

This Knowledge Base page lists 12 colleges and universities that are taking significant steps to reduce their demand for GHG-intensive sources of Energy. The links below each short description provide more detailed information.

State University of New York at Buffalo The "Conserve UB" program (since 1970's) and "You Have the Power" (2003) campaign result in savings in excess of $10 million dollars annually ($100 million since the beginning of programs!). Main conservation initiatives include lighting retrofits, insulation improvements, upgrading heating and cooling systems and energy efficient motors for fan drives and pumps. [1] [2]

Carleton College built a 1.65 MW wind turbine (2004) which produces the equivalent of 40% of the campus’s electricity (it is cycled back into the grid and the campus buys energy back from a “green” supplier). The college also participates in a Minnesota-wide inter-school competition called “dorm wars” where students strive to conserve the most energy in their dormitories. [3] [4]

Mt. Wachusett Community College installed a biomass hydronic district heating system that saves $300,000 annually and has cut C02 emissions by 23% over four years. Further energy initiatives include lighting retrofits, installation of heat pumps, complete building automation for heating and lighting, replacement of unit ventilators and the installation of a new domestic hot water heat exchanger. [5] [6]

Napa Valley College installed a 1.2 MW photovoltaic solar array. The project will provide 40% of the campus’s electricity while saving the college $300,000 annually. Other energy initiatives include lighting retrofits, solar hot water heating and HVAC upgrades. [7] [8]

University of California and California State University. These two university systems include 870,000 people in 33 campuses. By teaming up with investor-owned utilities, the campuses managed to save 32 million kilowatt hours through energy efficiency retrofits, monitoring based commissioning, emerging technology demonstrations, and training and education. The pilot program that brought about these changes (which initially ran from 2004-2006) will continue through 2006-2008 with increased funding and the goal of quadrupling current efficiency gains. [9] [10]

University of British Colombia recently completed the largest energy retrofit in Canada, known as the EcoTrek Project. The project included lighting retrofits, re-insulation of heat-transfer pipes, insulation of drafty doors and windows and the implementation of a building monitoring system to control heating, cooling and ventilation in buildings. The project will save the school $2.6 million per year and reduce annual GHG emissions by 15%. The university has also installed a 7 kw solar array. [11] [12] [13]

Queen’s University has reduced its carbon footprint by installing a 19.8 kw solar array. Students living in co-op housing have taken further initiatives to reduce GHGs by installing solar water heaters, turning down water heaters, installing CFLs, and making a goal to continually increase energy efficiency. [14] [15]

British Columbia Institute of Technology has managed to save $580,000 annually using lighting, heating and vending machine retrofits and has reduced yearly carbon emissions by approximately 20%. The installation of a 7 kw solar array has contributed to these savings. [16] [17] [18]

University of Toronto (Mississauga) has applied a variety of sustainable energy technologies to reduce its impact on the climate. 5.4 kw from solar panels, 240 kw from microturbines (35% efficiency increase over conventional electrical energy production), 20 kw from natural gas fuel cells (which will later be converted to hydrogen fuel cells) and a solar powered golf cart for campus transportation have all helped to decrease the UTM’s GHG emissions. [19] [20]

Cornell University manages to get 16% of its electricity from low impact, on-campus sources. 2% of demand is met by a micro-hydro dam, while 14% is produced by a steam/electricity cogeneration facility. There are plans to upgrade the central heating plant to a combined heat and power generation system that will reduce GHG emissions by 20%. Lake-source cooling for air-conditioning and a 17.2 kw solar installation also help to cut emissions. [21] [22]

Eastern Connecticut State University – Installation of Geothermal System: [23]

Southern Connecticut State University – Implementation of sub-monitoring system: [24][Category:Energy]]