Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 50.85
Liaison Sarah Williams
Submission Date Feb. 8, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Whitman College
OP-5: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.06 / 6.00 Brandon Bishop
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

This credit is based on energy inputs from offsite sources and electricity produced by onsite renewables. When the institution purchases one fuel and uses it to produce heat and/or power, you should enter only what is purchased. For example, if the institution purchases natural gas to fuel a CHP system and produce steam and electricity, only the purchased natural gas should be reported.

Figures needed to determine total building energy consumption:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 39,538.04 MMBtu 37,067.62 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site renewables 90.51 MMBtu 90.72 MMBtu
District steam/hot water (sourced from offsite) 0 MMBtu 0 MMBtu
Energy from all other sources (e.g., natural gas, fuel oil, propane/LPG, district chilled water, coal/coke, biomass) 44,345.70 MMBtu 42,020 MMBtu
Total 83,974.25 MMBtu 79,178.34 MMBtu

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2015 June 30, 2016
Baseline Year July 1, 2012 June 30, 2013

A brief description of when and why the building energy consumption baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):
Fiscal years were utilized for this reporting data. The baseline year was the FY13 running from July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013. The performance year data was FY16 running from July 1, 2015- June 30, 2016. This reporting falls inline with institutional budget reporting and those reflected in our GHG CAP bench marking standards.

Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area of building space 1,127,333 Gross square feet 1,007,000 Gross square feet

Source-site ratio for grid-purchased electricity:
3.14

Total building energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Site energy 0.07 MMBtu per square foot 0.08 MMBtu per square foot
Source energy 0.15 MMBtu per square foot 0.16 MMBtu per square foot

Percentage reduction in total building energy consumption (source energy) per unit of floor area from baseline:
4.99

Part 2 

Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F / 18 °C):
Degree days (see help icon above)
Heating degree days 3,977 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 1,445 Degree-Days (°F)

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 115,000 Square feet
Healthcare space 9,424 Square feet
Other energy intensive space

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
1,396,181 Gross square feet

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

Optional Fields 

Documentation (e.g. spreadsheet or utility records) 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 (e.g. outreach and education efforts):
We are currently developing programs to reduce energy. One such program is our Greening of the Office Program. The purpose of the GOTO program then is four-fold: Identify opportunities to improve building occupant comfort and provide a better work environment for employees, Assist in reducing measurable energy use and GHG emissions f rom user conservation behavior, Inventory office energy use to establish benchmarks for reduction goals and identify opportunities for energy efficiency initiatives and cost savings, Educate and engage the campus community about how they can help us redu ce our carbon footprint and become more sustainable in their work environment.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution (e.g. building temperature standards, occupancy and vacancy sensors):
We are in the process of implementing a universal setpoint policy that includes occupancy and vacancy policies.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The institution had converted most indoor lighting from T12 to T8s. As part of our lifecycle process we are currently transitioning T8 bulbs to LED lighting.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
Most of our earlier buildings were not constructed with these strategies in mind. Our current construction project has kept these policies in mind. We are actively assessing options to utilize geothermal.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution, e.g. combined heat and power (CHP):
We do not have any co-generation plants on the facility.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives (e.g. building re-commissioning or retrofit programs):
As part of our annual life-cycle process we assess areas in which we can update equipment and building systems. We additionally have sought external consulting on projects to reduce our energy use.

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.