University looks to cut campus energy bills

The glow of computer screens and empty offices still light portions of the University until morning when students leave campus and buildings are locked for the night.

With hundreds of buildings, thousands of students and countless electrical devices, the University's annual energy budget is a closely regulated annual expenditure.

For the 2008-2009 school year, the University projected a $24 million energy budget.

Because the University generates between 40 and 60 percent of its own energy, only about $13.7 million of campus power is purchased from Entergy.

This year, the University spent another $10 million on natural gas to run the Cogeneration power plant on Fieldhouse Drive. Facility Services also bought an additional $5 million of natural gas for use in on-campus restaurants and dining halls.

The Cogen plant turns a turbine engine which burns natural gas and generates an average 40 percent of the University's electricity. The heat produced during the process is also used to boil water, generating steam used for power.

"Every bit of electricity we generate is obviously energy we don't buy," said Bob Pitre, executive director of Facility Services.

The price of natural gas has fallen over the past year from $13 per million British thermal units to $4 per million BTU.

When the cost of natural gas is too high, the University must buy power straight from the Entergy grid.

"Last summer, it wasn't beneficial for us to rely on the powerhouse, whereas Entergy can choose from different energy sources," Pitre said.

LIGHTING

According to Pitre, the cost of lighting campus represents about 15 percent of the University's total energy budget.

While the University relied on typical fluorescent lighting for decades, Facility Services is gradually replacing them with more energy-efficient bulbs.

Most lights on campus are regulated through manual switches or motion sensors, but

Facility Services is working to transfer control of many of the lighting systems onto a remote controlled terminal operated from the Facility Services Building.

Used primarily to control the heating and air conditioning on campus, the Metasys software system is being adjusted to incorporate campus lighting.

Only a few larger, more energy intensive buildings — such as the Student Union — have switched to the Metasys system.

"Putting all the lighting systems on Metasys is a bit of overkill," Pitre said. "If you put motion sensors in the rooms, it works just as well."

The University spends about $400,000 annually on the 4,000 outdoor security lights around campus. To reduce these costs, Facility Services is looking to new forms of lighting. 

James Mayne, assistant director of Facility Services with utility operations, said he would try new light-emmitting diode lights, which are smaller, more energy efficient bulbs, but he isn't sure they are the only option.

"Every day, they're improving lighting, but I wouldn't just hang my hat on LED lighting," Mayne said.

Mayne said if the lights do prove efficient and are implemented, they may provide a 27 percent reduction in energy use, saving about $108,000.

HVAC

About 60 percent of the University's energy budget is spent on heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

According to Pitre, the major difficulty in maintaining these costs is the age of the air handling systems, some of which are more than 50 years old.

Pitre said the best Facility Services can do is periodic maintenance because there is no money to upgrade the whole system.

"Just like with every mechanical device, we can try to prolong the life of the system, but there will be a point where we just can't fix it anymore," Pitre said.

He said most of the University's HVAC systems have passed their 20- to 30-year life cycle.

Much of the HVAC system has moved to the deferred maintenance list — hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects which have to wait to be repaired until funds are

available.

Pitre said he has prepared Facility Services for impending budget cuts by imagining "what if" scenarios reducing the Facility Services budget. Deferred maintenance money does not come from the general fund, so it would not be affected by budget cuts.

When windows break, Pitre said Facility Services tries to replace them with energy efficient windows, though it is not always possible.

"Window systems are hard to justify because they're multiple-year payouts on the investment and are expensive," Pitre said.

Pitre said waterproofing Howe-Russell's exterior and replacing its 365 windows is a deferred maintenance project estimated to cost more than $850,000.

PLUG LOADS

To power the countless outlet-powered devices, it requires 25 percent of the University's power.

One of the biggest drains on electricity are the campus computer labs which are left running 24-hours a day. Though they waste thousands of dollars every hour, Information Technology Services cannot shut them down, according to Pitre.

All security updates and information backups are done through the Active Directory operated by ITS.

According to Sheri Thompson, associate director for ITS, these updates are done at night because they interrupt the network and require the computers to reboot.

Thompson said the monitors are the biggest draw on energy, and ITS recommends people turn them off nightly.

Pitre said the energy problems presented by computer labs are two-fold — the electricity used by the computers themselves and the cost of adjusting the HVAC systems to regulate the heat they generate.