Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 48.20
Liaison Lauren Poole
Submission Date Dec. 10, 2021

STARS v2.2

Colorado School of Mines
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.45 / 6.00 Lauren Poole
Sustainability Coordinator
EHS
"---" 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 32,261,566 Kilowatt-hours 110,076.46 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 205,949.20 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
316,025.66 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
2,314,808 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 292,391 Square feet
Healthcare space 3,854 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 182,812 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
3,090,110 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 6,552.70 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 636.10 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
7,188.80 Degree-Days (°F)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period July 1, 2018 June 30, 2019

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

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

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 36,958,116 Kilowatt-hours 126,101.09 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 19,512.60 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 175,443 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
321,056.69 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
2,125,075 Gross square feet

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period June 1, 2017 May 31, 2018

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
We used this baseline because it was the year prior to the energy savings performance contract for the campus. We also moved away from imported steam from Coors Corporation during this time period and started producing our own steam. We also continue to add buildings to campus.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.14 MMBtu per square foot 0.23 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.15 MMBtu per square foot 0.27 MMBtu per square foot

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
14.13

Optional Fields 

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:
Colorado School of Mines has partnered with McKinstry to implement an energy awareness and savings program on campus called powerED. The three-year program launched in the Fall 2018 semester. McKinstry’s powerED program focuses on engagement, process, and performance. The “people” component educates building occupants about the importance of energy efficiency and resource conservation; the “process” component identifies and implements low- and no-cost operational and maintenance strategies to reduce energy use; and the “performance” component tracks, measures, analyzes and quantifies energy savings and carbon reduction. Those three components are used to increase staff and student awareness and engagement, identify energy savings opportunities, communicate performance results and promote success.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
In March 2012, as part of the an earlier Energy Savings Performance Contract, powerED contract, extensive lighting replacement and occupancy sensor installations, along with heat recovery on fume hoods and general exhaust in three largest lab buildings. In 2014, a second ESPC involved chiller replacement, additional lighting and occupancy sensors, and several smaller HVAC efficiency projects. The facilities team does have temperature recommendation ranges.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
Mines is launching powerED as part of a larger building and operational improvement effort that began earlier this year. Most of the work focuses on energy efficiency retrofits and other campus improvement projects, including upgrading select lighting to LEDs in buildings and outdoor areas, adding dimming controls to a substantial number of classrooms to improve projector use, upgrading chilled water systems and improving system controls.

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:
---

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 ON IMPORTED ENERGY: The figures reported under "Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water" dropped from 134,013,381.0 MMBtu in the baseline year to zero in the performance year because the campus started producing its own steam in mid-2017. We renovated an old heating plant that came online in April 2017. Prior to that, we imported steam from Coors Brewery. After April 2017, we produced our own steam with 100% natural gas and no longer imported steam.

We used data from EnergyCap Software tracking for square footage and electrical. We subtracted the Mines Park common area electrical data because we are excluding this area outside the main campus because it is undergoing redevelopment and we won't have data on the new buildings in that area until after 2025.

Degree days data from Degreedays.net.

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.