University of Louisville
OP-8: Building Energy Consumption

The baseline was created during our first greenhouse gas emissions inventory conducted in 2009-2010. It involved three years of prior data and was as far back as we had reliable data.

The Siemens Apogee software and the TAC I/A software include scheduling features which allow building HVAC units to be turned off and/or temperatures to be set back during unoccupied times. These software systems are used for the vast majority of buildings on campus.

UofL is beginning to install LED lighting, with its first major installation in outdoor lighting for a new parking lot featuring dozens of lights.

Several campus buildings use lighting sensors to reduce lighting levels during daylight hours and in times of extended non-occupancy, including Lutz Hall, Duthie Center for Engineering, Ekstrom Library, etc. Motion sensors are used in numerous classrooms and offices including Humanities, Davidson Hall, Duthie Center for Engineering, Clinical & Translational Research, and several others.

We are investigating renewable energy options to passively heat & cool UofL buildings. At Burhans Hall on our Shelby campus, in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the Kentucky Renewable Energy Consortium, UofL's Renewable Energy Applications Laboratory (REAL) installed an experimental solar heat pipe wall for indoor climate control that may prove to be twice as efficient as other solar systems in places such as Louisville with moderate sun and cold winters. In 2011, the system was moved for further experimentation and monitoring to a new Passive Solar Test Facility constructed at the Speed School of Engineering at the Brook Street railroad fly-over, just south of Eastern Pkwy. This is the only such device of its kind in the world. The walls, floor and roof are built with structural insulated panels (SIP’s). The building is divided into two rooms with an insulated interior wall to allow side-by-side testing of two systems. Currently installed are two solar heat pipe systems, which produce net heat gains approximately twice as large as typical direct gain systems. Heating performance of these two prototypes has been compared, and strategies for reducing unwanted gains during the summer have also been tested. These experiments were funded by the Department of Energy, and are reported in the following articles: 1. Robinson BS & Sharp MK, “Reducing unwanted gains during the cooling season for a solar heat pipe system,” Solar Energy 115:16-32, 2015. 2. Robinson BS & Sharp MK, “Heating season performance improvements for a solar heat pipe system,” Solar Energy 110:39-49, 2014. 3. Robinson BS, Chmielewski NE, Knox Kelecy A, Brehob EG, Sharp MK, “Heating season performance of a full-scale heat pipe assisted solar wall,” Solar Energy 87:76–83, 2013.

UofL's latest project featuring renewable energy opened in October 2013. The new Student Recreation Center on 4th Street features not only a solar hot water system, but 128,000 square feet of space heated and cooled by the University's first geothermal system. The geothermal heat pipe is a closed-loop vertical well system with a total of 180 wells 400 feet deep. This system provides ample reserve capacity and is expected to generate about 22% annual energy cost savings compared to a conventional system. It is also considerably simpler and cheaper to maintain.

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UofL has made massive investments to retrofit its existing facilities in order to increase the efficiency of our operations, reduce costs, consume less energy and water, and produce less pollution as a result. This $46.2 million project, involving 88 buildings (6.2 million square feet) on all three UofL campuses will directly save the university $4.4 million every year and reduce our annual carbon dioxide emissions alone by over 46,000 tons (the equivalent of removing 7,690 cars from the road). With these improvements, UofL expects to reduce its utility bill by about $12,086 per day! These efforts have already produced documented results. In FY 2011-12, Belknap Campus reduced fuel use 48%, electricity use 27%, and water use 31%. Efficiency-minded campus users helped us exceed our engineers' expectations! They had predicted fuel use to decline nearly 40% and electricity use to drop at least 20% annually.

The Siemens Apogee software and the TAC I/A software are in use in the vast majority of buildings on campus and report back to the work control center in the Service Complex. These systems are monitored by a full-time staff person and allow for monitoring and control of hundreds of HVAC units across campus.

UofL has made massive investments to retrofit its existing facilities in order to increase the efficiency of our operations, reduce costs, consume less energy and water, and produce less pollution as a result. This $46.2 million project, involving 88 buildings (6.2 million square feet) on all three UofL campuses will directly save the university $4.4 million every year and reduce our annual carbon dioxide emissions alone by over 46,000 tons (the equivalent of removing 7,690 cars from the road). With these improvements, UofL expects to reduce its utility bill by about $12,086 per day! These efforts have already produced documented results. In FY 2011-12, Belknap Campus reduced fuel use 48%, electricity use 27%, and water use 31%. Efficiency-minded campus users helped us exceed our engineers' expectations! They had predicted fuel use to decline nearly 40% and electricity use to drop at least 20% annually.

UofL has a strong commitment to tree planting and maintenance around campus buildings. Trees shade and cool in the summer and break the force of winter winds. UofL met or exceeded all five of the standards required for Tree Campus USA designation in 2010, 2011, 2012,2013, and 2014 and has been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation for excellence.

Vending Miser sensors have been installed on numerous machines across campus. These allow the unit to turn off lights and compressors when no one is near the machine for predetermined lengths of time.

In 2012, UofL installed real-time energy-monitoring and display technology in four residence halls. These online Building Dashboards allow residents to get a handle on their energy usage and to get real-time feedback about conservation efforts within the residence halls! Our Building Dashboards help UofL residents gauge progress during our annual energy conservation competition and helped UofL finish in the top ten energy reducers in the spring 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals! Examples of efficiency retrofits include: Efficient lighting: Installed 117,483 fluorescent lamps, 41,714 ballasts, and 1,729 exterior induction lamps. Reduce lighting energy consumption by 14% for an annual savings of over $915,000. Insulated steam valve jackets: 1,152 installed. Reduce heat loss at the valve by 90%. Saves over $327,000/year. Occupancy sensors for lighting: Installed 2,011 occupancy sensors to automatically shut off lights in vacant rooms. Reduces lighting energy consumption by 20-40%, saving over $97,000/year. Low-flow shower heads: 616 standard shower heads were replaced with efficient 2.0 gallon/minute heads. Reduces water use by an average of 11%, saving over $34,000/year. Low-flow faucet aerators: Installed 20,426 pressure independent aerators. Reduces water consumption at sinks by an average of 58% for an annual savings of over $159,000. Efficient motors: Replaced 259 motors with new models that use an average of 5% less energy for an annual savings of over $35,000. Energy efficient belts for motors: Replaced 213 standard V-style belts with non-slipping synchronous belts with variable frequency drives. Cuts energy use by an average of 8% for a savings of over $46,000/year.