Overall Rating	Platinum
Overall Score	88.80
Liaison	Aarushi Gupta
Submission Date	Aug. 11, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of California, Irvine
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	4.40 / 6.00	Matt Gudorf Campus Energy Manager Facilities Management

"---" 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	10,455,072 Kilowatt-hours	35,672.71 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems)	1,035 Kilowatt-hours	3.53 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):

	MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy	129,864.60 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water	0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:

165,540.84 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

11,520,519 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	2,084,941 Square feet
Healthcare space	157,791 Square feet
Other energy intensive space	1,173,531 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

17,179,514 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days

Degree days, performance year:

	Degree days
Heating degree days	1,244 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days	1,167 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:

2,411 Degree-Days (°F)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):

	Start date	End date
Performance period	Jan. 1, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:

4.00 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	10,455,072 Kilowatt-hours	35,672.71 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems)	21,580 Kilowatt-hours	73.63 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):

	MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy	129,864.60 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water	0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:

165,610.94 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:

8,827,965 Gross square feet

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):

	Start date	End date
Baseline period	Jan. 1, 2008	Dec. 31, 2008

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:

The university installed a combined heat and power plant in 2007. This installation drastically changed the energy delivered to the campus, from predominantly grid delivered electricity to predominantly natural gas delivery. Selecting 2008 provides a solid baseline where efficiency efforts can be measured without drastic fuel switching issues appearing in the tabulation.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:

3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:

	Site energy	Source energy
Performance year	0.01 MMBtu per square foot	0.02 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year	0.02 MMBtu per square foot	0.03 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:

23.39

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:

UCI has several ongoing initiatives to encourage more sustainable behavior in regard to energy efficiency.

SUSTAINABILITY FUNDAMENTALS STAFF TRAINING
The online staff training provides methods to conserve energy in both at-work, telecommuting, or hybrid work models.
Visit: https://sustainability.uci.edu/education/staff-professional-development-and-training/

UCI GREEN LABS
The UCI Green Labs program works with principal investigators, lab managers, and students to educate and assist in the implementation of more sustainable practices in campus laboratories. The program provides resources and guidance in areas including energy efficiency, waste reduction, water conservation, sustainable purchasing, and green chemistry. Upon incorporating greater sustainable practices, research groups are awarded official Green Labs certification.
Visit: https://sustainability.uci.edu/green-lab/#:~:text=About%20UCI%20Green%20Labs&text=The%20program%20provides%20resources%20and,awarded%20official%20Green%20Labs%20certification

GREEN OFFICE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
The UCI Green Office Certification Program is a campus-wide, points-based program that certifies and awards departments for their sustainable practices. The program is designed to allow departments the ability to evaluate their current practices, set goals, and receive recognition for their sustainable practices. The program provides guidance for energy efficiency as well as waste minimization, water conservation, and sustainable transportation.
Visit: https://sites.google.com/uci.edu/ucigreenoffice/home

EARTHREPS
Earth Representatives or EarthReps is a student training and community building internship for undergraduate on-campus residents offering education, skills, and hands-on experiences broadly related to sustainability. EarthReps serve as sustainability ambassadors in student housing. The program aims to train emerging young leaders, expand campus awareness of sustainability, and build community among students, staff, and faculty. EarthReps and Sustainability Interns are available to help plan or lead in-hall or community programs about energy efficiency as well as waste and recycling, sustainable dining, and more.
Visit: https://sites.google.com/uci.edu/housingsustainability/earthreps

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:

UCI uses a networked campus-wide building energy management system. Some buildings have Siemens’ Apogee® and Johnson Controls’ Metasys® systems, while laboratory buildings utilize Phoenix Controls lab air control systems. Space scheduling and run times are continually updated and evaluated by the energy management system shop according to class and event schedules. In addition to these systems Aircuity’s Optinet system is deployed in 11 lab buildings allowing for both indoor air quality control of air change rates as well as occupancy based control. With the exception of laboratory and vivarium space, building temperatures are standardized as heat to 68 and cool to 78.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:

UC Irvine has installed LED lighting throughout the campus. Campus parking lots are bi-level LED. Exterior building wall packs, can lights, landscape lighting, canopy fixtures, step lights, and pathway lighting have received LED upgrades. Campus high bay and warehouse spaces have been retrofitted with LED fixtures with occupancy sensors built into each fixture. LED lighting is now part of the campus standards and all new and all retrofitted buildings require LED lighting with T24 Part 6 compliant controls.

For example, the 400,000 square foot Student Center was upgraded to LED replacing 3200 light fixtures. This project reduced energy consumption by 972,000 kWh per year, and saved 670 tons of CO2e from being emitted.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:

The majority of campus buildings are designed to take advantage of our Southern California climate. The walls of our newest buildings are 12+ inches thick concrete with no interior finish. The unfinished concrete walls are designed to absorb heat during the day and radiate it to the space at night, and then at night absorb the cool night air and radiate it to the space during the day. Passive solar heating and cooling dramatically decreases the need for mechanical heating and cooling in our buildings.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:

Since mid-2007, the campus has operated a combustion turbine generating plant at its award-winning central heating and cooling plant, which provides greater than 95 percent of the heating and cooling to the core campus facilities. The cogeneration facility uses a Solar Turbines Titan combustion turbine with an available steam turbine for additional energy recovery. Emissions are tightly controlled with NOx emissions below 2 ppm by volume. The generating plant provides 81.8% of the electricity used by the campus and the heat recovery steam generator displaces more than 485,000 MMBtu of natural gas that would otherwise have been burned in conventional boilers.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:

UCI has completed monitoring based commissioning (MBCx) for 15 buildings. As part of the program we will install energy monitoring and metering equipment in the buildings as needed. In order to identify energy savings opportunities we need to monitor the energy used. MBCx is a systematic process for optimizing an existing building’s performance by identifying operational deficiencies and making necessary adjustments to correct the system. Emphasis is on whole building metering, database analysis and storage of energy records, and long term monitoring of projects. At the current time we are recommissioning the central plant.

The latest addition to the program is adding automated fault detection software to continuously monitor systems for energy waste. The SkySpark is now fully deployed in 12 buildings on campus and in various states of deployment in 6 more. The campus will be conducting a full deployment to all buildings as time and funding permits.

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:

https://sustainability.uci.edu/sustainablecampus/climate-and-energy/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The reduction in purchased electricity from the baseline year can be attributed to the implementation of deep energy efficiency projects and the addition of 3.2 megawatts of solar power in 2015.

UCI has received national and international recognition for its energy management and energy conservation programs and its outreach and engagement to peer institutions with the global community to further deep energy efficiency and climate protection goals. This includes UCI's leadership in the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Challenge program, recognition by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with a national Climate Leadership Award for its outreach and engagement in energy conservation, and international recognition of UCI's Smart Labs energy initiative.

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.