Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.39
Liaison Sam Lubow
Submission Date June 29, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Stanford University
SD-10: Energy Use by Type

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete N/A Jiffy Vermylen
Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainability & Energy Management / Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

The percentage of total electricity use from coal.:
0

The percentage of total electricity use from wind.:
0

The percentage of total electricity use from biomass.:
0

The percentage of total electricity use from natural gas.:
98

The percentage of total electricity use from solar PV.:
2

The percentage of total electricity use from geothermal.:
0

The percentage of total electricity use from nuclear.:
0

The percentage of total electricity use from hydro.:
0

The percentage of total electricity use from other.:
0

Provide a brief description.:
Approximately 98% of Stanford's electricity comes from the on-campus cogeneration facility fueled by natural gas. Approximately 2% of Stanford's electricity comes from on-campus renewable energy, exclusively solar PV panels.

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from coal.:
0

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from biomass.:
0

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from electricity.:
0

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from natural gas.:
100

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from geothermal.:
0

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from fuel oil.:
0

The percentage of total energy used for heating buildings from other.:
0

Provide a brief description.:
The vast majority of campus building heating needs are met by steam generated from Stanford's cogeneration facility fueled by natural gas. The remainder is provided by natural-gas fired furnaces or boilers at the building level.

If cogeneration, please explain.:
Please see "notes" section for more information.

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

In December 2011, Stanford’s Board of Trustees gave concept approval to the $438 million Stanford Energy System Innovation (SESI) project, which is designed to meet the university’s energy demand though 2050. SESI represents a significant transformation of the university from 100% fossil-fuel-based cogeneration to a more efficient electric heat recovery system, powered by a diverse mix of conventional and renewable electricity sources.

Due to the significant overlap between campus heating and cooling demand, SESI entails an innovative heat recovery design that is 70% more efficient than the existing Central Energy Facility (CEF) operations. In the new system, heat collected from buildings via the chilled-water loop will be captured at the CEF for reuse, reducing the use of conventional chillers to discharge waste heat via cooling towers. Instead, heat recovery chillers will move the heat collected from the chilled water loop to a new hot-water loop scheduled to replace Stanford’s aging steam distribution system.

SESI will result in immense benefits for Stanford University in the decades to come. When completed, SESI will reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, save 18% of campus potable water, open up the energy supply platform to future technologies, enable campus to better manage its power portfolio, and yield significantly higher utilities savings though 2050.

For more information, please see the following website:
http://sustainable.stanford.edu/climate_action


In December 2011, Stanford’s Board of Trustees gave concept approval to the $438 million Stanford Energy System Innovation (SESI) project, which is designed to meet the university’s energy demand though 2050. SESI represents a significant transformation of the university from 100% fossil-fuel-based cogeneration to a more efficient electric heat recovery system, powered by a diverse mix of conventional and renewable electricity sources.

Due to the significant overlap between campus heating and cooling demand, SESI entails an innovative heat recovery design that is 70% more efficient than the existing Central Energy Facility (CEF) operations. In the new system, heat collected from buildings via the chilled-water loop will be captured at the CEF for reuse, reducing the use of conventional chillers to discharge waste heat via cooling towers. Instead, heat recovery chillers will move the heat collected from the chilled water loop to a new hot-water loop scheduled to replace Stanford’s aging steam distribution system.

SESI will result in immense benefits for Stanford University in the decades to come. When completed, SESI will reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, save 18% of campus potable water, open up the energy supply platform to future technologies, enable campus to better manage its power portfolio, and yield significantly higher utilities savings though 2050.

For more information, please see the following website:
http://sustainable.stanford.edu/climate_action

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.