Page 38 - College Planning & Management, September 2018

The Sustainable Campus TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS
An Energy Partnership
Colorado School of Mines challenges students with energy awareness.
BY GARY BOWERSOCK AND ALISON SCHWABE
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (MINES) IN Golden, CO, is known globally for the quality of its gradu- ates, the success of its alumni, and its unique expertise
in topics related to earth, energy, and the environment. The school is home to 10 sustainability-related research centers and insti- tutes spanning renewable energy and fuel cells to water pollution prevention and environmental risk assessment. The campus itself features six LEED Gold/Silver facilities and is pursuing LEED Sil- ver/Gold on several new construction buildings and renovations.
Mines faculty and staff rally around a shared sustainability vision. That vision got a recent boost with a three-year partnership to implement McKinstry’s powerED energy awareness and savings program. The powerED program will improve student energy aware- ness and engagement while saving utility and operating costs.
Meeting Energy Goals
The powerED program features three key focus elements: people, process, and performance. The “people” component educates building occupants about the importance of energy efficiency and resource conservation; the “process” component identifies and implements low- and no-cost operational and maintenance strate- gies to reduce energy use; and the “performance” component tracks, measures, analyzes, and quantifies energy savings and carbon reduction. Each of the three components is used to increase staff and student awareness and engagement, identify energy savings oppor- tunities, communicate performance results, and promote success.
People—Energy savings are maximized when individuals take responsibility for energy efficiency. The primary goal of powerED’s people module is to eliminate waste and reduce energy use through awareness and behavior change. The program offers strategies that encourage occupants to get involved through an ongoing campaign and interactive online platform. Activities include constructing a carbon cube to visually represent one metric ton of carbon dioxide, behind-the-scenes energy use tours, residence hall energy challeng- es, and a lights-out hour with LED glow-in-the-dark activities.
Process—A proven process of identifying and implementing low-cost or high-payback operations and maintenance strategies is critical to energy savings. The process module includes monitor- ing and analyzing building automation data, which is used to meet ongoing facility performance metrics. Automated alerts inform engineers when building operations are out of range. The alerts can then be evaluated to find root causes for correction.
Performance—You can’t manage what you don’t measure. The 38 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / SEPTEMBER 2018
performance module delivers the ability to analyze, document, and proactively manage facility energy consumption. McKinstry performs ongoing energy accounting and analysis to monitor usage patterns and costs on a monthly basis. Data is reported via an online dashboard and includes energy savings, costs avoidance, carbon reduction, energy-use intensity (EUI), energy cost index (ECI), and ENERGY STAR benchmarking. The performance mod- ule allows Mines to better measure and compare facility energy performance against national averages, historical baselines, and management goals over time.
A Three-Year Program
Launched with the Fall 2018 semester, Mines and McKinstry will run a three-year powerED program across 32 facilities on campus. The program is one of several energy and sustainability initiatives currently underway. A larger building and operational improvement effort is also focusing on energy-efficiency retrofits and other campus improvement projects. The two-phase project includes: Campus irrigation controls and water conservation efforts; upgrading select lighting to LEDs; adding dimming controls to classrooms to improve projector use; implementing HVAC exhaust energy recovery systems; upgrading chilled water systems; and building automation system control optimization. Work will also include adding solar photovol- taic (PV) renewable energy on campus. These improvements will improve energy efficiency, increase system reliability, and enhance the learning and working environment for both faculty and students.
Spread across two phases, Mines is investing $7.7 million in cam- pus energy retrofit projects, which is guaranteed by McKinstry to save the school more than $750,000 in energy and operations cost each year. These savings will be used to pay for energy retrofit projects, along with nearly $265,000 in utility rebates spanning both phases.
Colorado School of Mines is committed to delivering every ad- vantage possible to help students excel in and out of the classroom. The powerED program integrates energy and sustainability into campus life, engaging students and staff to make a meaningful impact. At the same time, the energy retrofits increase energy performance across campus while reducing the school’s carbon footprint. The end result drives behavior change by joining ef- ficient buildings with informed, committed occupants. CPM
Gary Bowersock is associate vice president of Operations for the Colorado School of Mines (www.mines.edu). Alison Schwabe is powerED program manager for McKinstry (www.mckinstry.com).
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