University of Oregon
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.05 / 6.00 |
Cimmeron
Gillespie Education & Analytics Coordinator Office of Sustainability |
Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity |
87,770,144
Kilowatt-hours
Date Revised: April 4, 2024
|
299,471.73 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) |
102,423
Kilowatt-hours
Date Revised: April 4, 2024
|
349.47 MMBtu |
Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
| MMBtu | |
| Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy |
480,986
MMBtu
Date Revised: April 4, 2024
|
| 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 | 342,798 Square feet |
| Healthcare space | 33,223 Square feet |
| Other energy intensive space | 193,336 Square feet |
EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
Degree days, performance year:
| Degree days | |
| Heating degree days | 4,337 Degree-Days (°F) |
| Cooling degree days | 505 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, 2021 | June 30, 2022 |
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 | 88,474,698 Kilowatt-hours | 301,875.67 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) | 146,102.40 Kilowatt-hours | 498.50 MMBtu |
Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):
| MMBtu | |
| Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy |
429,514
MMBtu
Date Revised: April 4, 2024
|
| 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, 2017 | June 30, 2018 |
A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
2017-2018 is the baseline year at this time. Previous 2004 data was insufficient for this category. The University has established FY18 as a baseline year based on available records.
Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
| Site energy | Source energy | |
| Performance year | 0.09 MMBtu per square foot | 0.15 MMBtu per square foot |
| Baseline year | 0.09 MMBtu per square foot | 0.17 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:
The University has strategic goals as part of a climate action plan found here:
https://president.uoregon.edu/university-oregons-updated-climate-action-plan
A focus on energy in particular asks of the institution to consider the following:
"Conduct several studies that will inform decision-making so that we target our energy and resources where they can have the most impact. These studies will investigate: how we will plan long-term to heat campus using low carbon energy sources; internal carbon pricing to explore potential revenue sources that can fund direct emissions reductions on campus; the costs and carbon-reduction impacts of a campus-wide LED retrofit; alternative commute options to lessen the impact of our faculty, staff, and students traveling to and from campus; and the feasibility and impact of a winter break “turn down” and temperature set-point policy to shrink our energy consumption."
UO has completed a feasibility study to transition away from natural gas for thermal power and is currently in the process of deliberation on this study.
A team of Sustainability Ambassadors has been monitoring building energy use, measuring heat and lighting ensuring that building uses are reduced during evening hours. Ambassadors are also providing labs information on unclosed vent covers, or 'sashes', as part of a 'shut the sash' campaign. The findings are reported on a weekly basis to building occupants as both data gathering and accountability mechanism encouraging users to make the best choices in energy use reduction.
The SCORE program provides home energy audits and evaluation. This encourages positive behavior actions on the part of recipients. The SCORE program can be found here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/score
Public education also offers all students, faculty, and staff thermometer magnets ('thermagnets' for short) which can be applied to an office refrigerator or to the side of a desktop CPU. These allow the office to see in real time the ambient temperature in the used space and control their thermostat accordingly. This is a very popular tool which allows offices to better prepare themselves to make the choice of energy reduction.
As part of the Green Office Certification, personal space heating and energy use are metrics in the point system of the certification process. Each department is required to coordinate with the system HVAC controllers at the building level. By asking building occupants to consider their impact and the best methods of achieving personal comfort this impacts personal use decisions in every participating office.
This is a sampling of current projects.
A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
The University maintains a process of continuous improvement in energy management found here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/uo_em_semp_fy20_final_0.pdf . Although this document is the most recent version however, it is no longer current and a new version is in development plan will be released when updated.
The University uses centralized steam/chilled water to heat and cool campus buildings. The centralized control allows for optimized energy management, see the the Campus Planning Facilities Managements, UO Energy Management Program here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/utilities-energy/energy-management
Buildings on campus use timers to regulate temperature, for example Lillis hall uses a central computer to measure inside and outside light levels and temperature, building occupancy, heating load, and power generation and adjusts controls automatically for maximum efficiency. The Oregon Model of Sustainable Development (OMSD) requires all new and renovated spaces over 10,000 gsf are required to be built to LEED Gold, which requires commissioning and performance spec evaluation. OMSD: https://sustainability.uoregon.edu/PDF/principle_10_sustainable_development_2021.pdf
As a result of the OMSD energy consumption on campus has remained relatively flat while significant square footage and whole new buildings have come online as is observable on the Sustainability dashboard:
https://sustainability.uoregon.edu/energy.html
"Over the past 5-years Campus Services/Facilities/Utilities has initiated use of strategic energy management planning (SEMP) to achieving significant levels of energy savings. This approach is based on the understanding that SEMP is a successful and well-established practice used by many large educational institutions throughout the country, and has proven to be one of the most successful means of improving management of opportunity risk and cost associated with utility use."- https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/utilities-energy/energy-management
A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
Campus Planning and Facilities Management implemented a campus-wide LED lighting improvements for safety and efficiency in 2017. See an article about this here: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/brighter-nights-ahead-campus-adds-more-led-lighting
According to the the Oregon Model of Sustainable Development (see point 1 of the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/Policy-Sustainability ), all new construction projects over 10,000 sqft are built to LEED Gold standards. LEDs and efficient lighting design are key elements in energy reduction. Use of LEDs is extremely common in newer buildings however, existing infrastructure continues to maintain fluorescent lighting until renovation or lighting updates can occur.
The UO has implemented a lighting retrofit revolving fund (pp.61 - SEMP: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/uo_em_semp_fy20_final_0.pdf ). The projects selected for this fund must reduce overall energy costs. Projects must demonstrate a payback period of five years or less.
A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
According to the the Oregon Model of Sustainable Development (see point 1 of the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/Policy-Sustainability ), all new construction projects over 10,000 sqft are built to LEED Gold standards.
Many building employ thermal massing, and passive energy management strategies. Shade shields are common on campus to allow windows and natural light, but reduce afternoon heat accumulation inside buildings during warm periods. Many buildings use passive cooling and night cooling strategies. UO is also a registered arboretum and frequently large campus trees are incorporated into the design of buildings to assist with shade and cooling (see the Campus Plan Principle 2, Open Space Framework, here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/campus-plan)
A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
The UO has a natural gas combine cycle co-generation system which is not currently economical to use as prime-power generation. Current use is limited to operation for maintenance, testing, and training.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
The University maintains a standard for desktop and laptops. Staff may choose from a small range of options all of which achieve energy efficiency standards. Most modules are EPEAT certified.
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:
For the stationary fuels and thermal energy baseline, we included the fuels consumed to generate heat and electricity in buildings. We excluded 512,687 therms (51,268 MMBTU) of 'other campus uses', which consist of decorative fire places, lab use, and kitchens. The emissions from the other fuels are tracked internally and included in the total scope 1 GHG emissions.
See the University of Oregon Strategic energy Management Plan
https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/ue_em_semp_fy20.pdf
The UO has five buildings that generate PV solar electricity: our Facilities Warehouse (10.5KW), the Erb Memorial Union (10KW), the Student Recreation Center (12.6KW), Outdoor Program Barn (5.3KW), and EC Cares facility (5KW).
Information on LEED Buildings: https://sustainability.uoregon.edu/buildings.html
Information on energy consumption: https://sustainability.uoregon.edu/energy.html
For the stationary fuels and thermal energy baseline, we included the fuels consumed to generate heat and electricity in buildings. We excluded 512,687 therms (51,268 MMBTU) of 'other campus uses', which consist of decorative fire places, lab use, and kitchens. The emissions from the other fuels are tracked internally and included in the total scope 1 GHG emissions.
See the University of Oregon Strategic energy Management Plan
https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/ue_em_semp_fy20.pdf
The UO has five buildings that generate PV solar electricity: our Facilities Warehouse (10.5KW), the Erb Memorial Union (10KW), the Student Recreation Center (12.6KW), Outdoor Program Barn (5.3KW), and EC Cares facility (5KW).
Information on LEED Buildings: https://sustainability.uoregon.edu/buildings.html
Information on energy consumption: https://sustainability.uoregon.edu/energy.html
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