Page 23 - College Planning & Management, June 2017

The more input and due diligence you do the less likely you are
to build a system that doesn’t meet your needs or work financially.
explains Director of Facilities Ed Lehman. He projects that the mi- crogrid will save about $7.00 per kW on the distribution demand charge. “In addition, we benefit at a rate of $12.50 per kW reduced when we lower our power demand at times when the local utility is experiencing significant power demand and when their cost of power from the regional grid is the highest.”
Saving money also appealed to Connolly at Montclair State. The university’s 5.4 MW cogeneration plant went online in 2013, and met about 85 percent of their energy needs. Since then the school has added 350,000 square feet of buildings, widening that gap between what they produced and what they bought.
“I was particularly interested in the electricity we bought during the summer,” says Connolly. “That is the most expensive block.” Montclair will modify their substation and add 5 MW of gas
generation. Connolly estimates that the new generator will run about 1,000 hours a year. The new system will allow the school to reduce demand during those peak, hot summer months when energy is most expensive.
Carbon Footprint
Colleges and universities have long been on the vanguard
of using renewable energy. Microgrids make integrating these resources easier... eventually. “We presently have 1.2 MW of solar pv that makes up 8 percent of our total energy usage,” says Santa Clara’s Watt. What the school doesn’t have is on-site storage; a.k.a., a battery. “That’s phase three of the project.”
Lehman is open to adding different renewable sources like bio- mass or microturbines, and Connolly states that Montclair State’s 284 kW solar field won’t be their last. However, a smart microgrid with advanced controls makes natural gas, already low-priced and abundant, a more sustainable choice.
Next Steps
Both Connolly and Watt were facing the same issue when first exploring microgrid technology: aging campus infrastructure. Many electrical distribution components at Santa Clara were already at the end of their life. Montclair was limping along with a 100-year-old distributed steam system. Microgrids offered a forward-looking solution.
But schools shouldn’t move towards microgrids just because they can. “Don’t let ideology drive this decision,” warns Watt. Connolly agrees. He strongly urges talking to experts, modeling energy costs and bringing in independent third parties to “throw
stones and find flaws. The more input and due diligence you do the less likely you are to build a system that doesn’t meet your needs or work financially.” CPM
A 30’ CEILING AVERAGES A
15°F
TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL
RESULTING IN A
26.3% PROJECTED ANNUAL WASTED HEATING COST
The World Standard airiusfans.com For Destratification 303.772.2633
JUNE 2017 / COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 23