Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 70.62
Liaison Darcy Coughlan
Submission Date Dec. 22, 2022

STARS v2.2

Coastal Carolina University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.92 / 6.00 Darcy Coughlan
Associate Director
Sustain Coastal
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Site energy use per unit of floor area

Performance year energy consumption

Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity 45,614,058 Kilowatt-hours 155,635.17 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 16,335.20 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
171,970.37 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
272,856.39 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 1,943.53 Square meters
Healthcare space 732.82 Square meters
Other energy intensive space 5,045.38 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
283,254.47 Gross square meters

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 1,059.44 Degree-Days (°C)
Cooling degree days 1,226.11 Degree-Days (°C)

Total degree days, performance year:
2,285.56 Degree-Days (°C)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period July 1, 2021 June 30, 2022

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
81.99 Btu / GSM / Degree-Day (°C)

Part 2. Reduction in source energy use per unit of floor area

Baseline year energy consumption

STARS 2.2 requires electricity data in kilowatt-hours (kWh). If a baseline has already been established in a previous version of STARS and the institution wishes to continue using it, the electricity data must be re-entered in kWh. To convert existing electricity figures from MMBtu to kWh, simply multiply by 293.07107 MMBtu/kWh.

Electricity use, baseline year (report kWh):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity 31,319,333 Kilowatt-hours 106,861.56 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 6,133.10 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
112,994.66 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
114,181.32 Gross square meters

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period July 1, 2007 June 30, 2008

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
We used 2007 as the baseline because that was the year the state of South Carolina adopted a requirement that all major state-funded construction and renovation projects need to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) design and construction criteria.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.63 MMBtu per square meter 1.77 MMBtu per square meter
Baseline year 0.99 MMBtu per square meter 2.86 MMBtu per square meter

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
38.11

Optional Fields 

Documentation to support the performance year energy consumption figures reported above:
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A brief description of the institution's initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices in regard to energy efficiency:
Over the past 15 years, all major new construction and renovation projects have been completed in accordance with green building standards. Seven of buildings are Gold-certified and five Silver-certified, which is the equivalent of approximately 835,000 square feet. CCU is also a member institution of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which develops and administers the LEED Green Building Rating System (www.usgbc.org), and has two LEED accredited professionals on staff to ensure LEED criteria is incorporated in design and construction on all major projects.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
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A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
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A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
CCU’s campus has a 7,200-square-foot Central Energy Plant, which has the ability to pump up to 2,800 tons of cooling capacity. The Central Energy Plant currently services a number of buildings on main campus, such as the Smith Science Building, Swain Hall, Wheelwright Auditorium, Kearns Hall, and Lib Jackson Student Center. The goal of this Central Energy Plant is to get as many buildings off their own chillers and served by a central unit to reduce overall energy usage.

The plant itself is made up of a cooling tower, water-cooled chillers, and cooling pumps. All of the buildings supported by the plant receive their air conditioning via an underground chilled water distribution system. The system is controlled in each building with automated controls. The new system also uses existing natural gas systems to heat all of the buildings on its matrix. The advantage of the Central Energy Plant is that it allows for a more efficient system, housed in a smaller area - the plant takes up considerably less space than the combined number of units it will replace at the individual buildings. A similar central cooling plant is located behind the HTC Center, adjacent to student housing on Elvington Loop. This plant provides cooling capacity for those facilities.

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
FY 22 Natural Gas: 163,352 Therms
FY 22 Imported Electricity: 46,725,258 kWh
FY 22 Green Power Purchased: 1,111,200 kWh
Total Imported Retail Electricity: 45,614,058

2007 Energy Consumption from 2015 STARS submission.
2007 Square Footage: IRAA Fact Book - https://www.coastal.edu/media/2015ccuwebsite/contentassets/documents/iraa/universityfactbooks/fb2007.pdf

Degree Days Calculated using Energy Star Portfolio Manager - Year Ending Jun 30, 2022; Zip Code 29526.

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.