| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.35 |
| Liaison | Andrew Porter |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2023 |
University of Cincinnati
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.31 / 6.00 |
Andrew
Porter Director Planning + Design + Constuction |
Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity | 52,370,022 Kilowatt-hours | 178,686.52 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) | 0 Kilowatt-hours | 0 MMBtu |
Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
| MMBtu | |
| Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy | 3,175,723.68 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water | 0 MMBtu |
Total site energy consumption, performance year:
Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
| Floor area | |
| Laboratory space | 614,928 Square feet |
| Healthcare space | 99,176 Square feet |
| Other energy intensive space | 1,465,000 Square feet |
EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
Degree days, performance year:
| Degree days | |
| Heating degree days | 5,038.80 Degree-Days (°F) |
| Cooling degree days | 1,269.70 Degree-Days (°F) |
Total degree days, performance year:
Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
| Start date | End date | |
| Performance period | July 1, 2020 | June 30, 2021 |
Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
Electricity use, baseline year (report kWh):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity | 279,537,078 Kilowatt-hours | 953,780.51 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) | 0 Kilowatt-hours | 0 MMBtu |
Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):
| MMBtu | |
| Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy | 1,466,505 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water | 0 MMBtu |
Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
| Start date | End date | |
| Baseline period | July 1, 2008 | June 30, 2009 |
A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
This year was aligned with the carbon footprint and also represented the year UC started tracking it energy usage and making changes on its campus based on sustainability.
Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
| Site energy | Source energy | |
| Performance year | 0.19 MMBtu per square foot | 0.21 MMBtu per square foot |
| Baseline year | 0.15 MMBtu per square foot | 0.27 MMBtu per square foot |
Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
Documentation to support the performance year energy consumption figures reported above:
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices in regard to energy efficiency:
UC runs an annual energy Conservation Challenge in its residence halls; see https://www.uc.edu/about/admin-finance/planning-design-construction/sustainability/get-involved/events-&-programming/residence-hall-conservation-challenge.html
UC conducts surveys (last done in 2021) of our students/faculty/staff. This helps UC understand our community's perspective and select projects that will be visible and valued to by our population.
Our Sustainability staff regularly meets with representatives from Student government, and student organizations to discuss their perspectives.
UC sponsors an annual weekend Student Summit with an average of 60 students. At these summits we invite in professionals from different fields of sustainability to help educate these students so they can share what they've learned with a broad campus population.
A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
The University of Cincinnati’s campus is actively controlled by a comprehensive centralized building monitoring system (BMS). This BMS system allows for a sophisticated control of many of the largest pieces of equipment, lighting and HVAC systems operating throughout the campus buildings. Beyond the BMS, the preferred temperature control setpoints for the buildings during occupied periods at the university are 70°F heating and 75°F cooling. The University's staff sets back the temperatures and the airflows wherever possible. UC's unoccupied building temperature setpoints are 65°F heating and 78°F cooling. These unoccupied periods are determined by either an occupancy sensor or time of day schedule.
A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The University of Cincinnati’s campus is actively controlled by a comprehensive centralized building monitoring system (BMS). This BMS system allows for a sophisticated control of many of the largest pieces of equipment, lighting and HVAC systems operating throughout the campus buildings. For lighting, for example, occupancy sensors allow for energy efficient lighting.
All of our new buildings and major renovations are designed to meet either ASHRAE 90.1-2010 or they meet IECC-2012. We are providing lighting control in our new construction and major renovations consistent with these energy standards. We apply scheduling, daylight harvesting, room occupancy as outlined in these standards. At this point, we are using LED for all of our general purpose building lighting and exterior lighting.
UC continues to replace incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lights with LED as opportunities arise. In our 3,000,000 square feet of parking garages, very inefficient old lights have almost all been replaced with LEDs.
A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
UC's central plant is a tri-generation facility, efficiently producing electricity, steam and chilled water. See http://www.uc.edu/af/utilities/production.html
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Note that the figures reported for GSF do not match with PRE4. That's because the energy figures reported above include energy supplied to local area hospitals that are powered by the trigen plant operated by UC. Consequently the GSF of those hospitals (2,876,712 GSF) is also included in the numbers above. Since the hospitals are not included in any other credits in the STARS assessment (other than OP2 and OP5), their GSF is not included in PRE4.
Note that the figures reported for GSF do not match with PRE4. That's because the energy figures reported above include energy supplied to local area hospitals that are powered by the trigen plant operated by UC. Consequently the GSF of those hospitals (2,876,712 GSF) is also included in the numbers above. Since the hospitals are not included in any other credits in the STARS assessment (other than OP2 and OP5), their GSF is not included in PRE4.
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.