For a general overview of our energy systems at the University of Illinois, please see the online overview at http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Resources/brochures/utilities-energy-3-14.pdf?sfvrsn=0.

1. Does your school have sort of campus-wide energy management system (EMS)? Or does each building have its own energy monitoring system?

Each building has its own metering station where chilled water, condensate, and electricity are measured and recorded. The chilled water and condensate usages are recorded into the building automation system and transferred over BACnet I/P to our campus data historian system and the electric meters have an Ethernet I/P connection that is directly fed to the data historian.

1.  Does the EMS at your school have the ability to turn the HVAC systems on/off (this feature is often called Direct Digital Control) ? 

We have a mixture of control system types and vintages on campus. There are older pneumatic controls systems still on campus that we are gradually converting over to DDC systems. Back in 1984 is when the campus starting installing its first digital control system. This system’s primary function was for monitoring temperatures, status of various types of equipment, and start/stop and speed adjustment of HVAC.  About 20 years ago is when DDC systems were being installed for full control of system and not just for start/stop purposes. I would approximate that our campus has about 60% DDC and 40% pneumatic control.

The HVAC systems that do have DDC control typically have some sort of occupancy schedule where the unit either shuts down or a setback mode is used for after hours. We also utilize occupancy sensors on variable air volume(VAV) air handlers for classrooms and offices. This allows us during normal hours where the unit would be running to achieve additional saving by closing off air dampers( or air flow) to specific spaces that do not have occupants.  

We have an Energy Management Control Center (EMCC) that is staff during normal working hours to monitor our DDC systems. They monitor the alarms, handle hot/cold calls and make sure the campus HVAC systems are running at their optimal level. We use two primary DDC systems for our building controls, Siemens and Schneider Electric’s TAC system and the Delta V system is used in our production plants. All three systems are monitored in the EMCC.

Requested information:

Hi my name is Sho Kawano.

I'm a student at the University of California, Berkeley currently doing research on sustainable operations, specifically energy use.

I thought this would be the right place to contact regarding energy management at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

1. Does your school have sort of campus-wide energy management system(EMS)? Or does each building have its own energy monitoring system?
2. Does the EMS at your school have the ability to turn the HVAC systems on/off (this feature is often called Direct Digital Control) ? 

If you can answer these questions for me, I'd greatly appreciate your help

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,
Sho Kawano 

University of California, Berkeley | May 2017

B.A. Statistics

In general, the overall efficiency of a typical power plant is approximately 35%, and the efficiency of a typical cogeneration plant is typically 80-85%.  The efficiency is in general a measure of the energy input (fuel), vs. the energy output (electricity, and in the case of a cogeneration plant steam and electricity).

We have done a lot of things to improve the plant efficiency, but at this point in time we don’t have good data available that can measure and quantify those improvements.  Some of the items that we have undertaken include:  changing out the lighting to higher efficient flourescents and/or LEDs, changing out the Centac Centrifugal Air Compressors to more efficient VFD driven rotary air compressors, changing the air compressor cooling from city water to the plant service water system, and repairing and replacing direct contact heaters.

Mike Larson

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Director of Utilities Production

In 2012, F&S hired Illinois Business Consulting to evaluate the following question for Abbott Power Plant: "Can the overall carbon footprint be decreased by using 10% of biomass in place of 10% of coal?"  The report and executive summary are attached here.

As of June 1, 2012, the University will again try to meet campus energy without burning coal in the summer months.

F&S and the Beyond Coal student group portion of Students for Environmental ConcernS (SECS) held a joint celebration at Abbott Power Plant to recognize the efforts that have been made to reduce coal usage for campus.  There was a discussion about the additional projects F&S is pursuing and the financial decision makers for campus.

The F&S Energy and Production Distribution Master Plan was kicked off in January.  This plan is the first step to achieving the goal of not burning coal at Abbott Power Plant by 2017. The plan will be developed over the course of calendar year 2012 and will include specific projects and cost estimates for implementing the plan in five-year increments. 

As part of the ICECF 2009 Lighting Retrofit, 426 T-12 fixtures in Gregory Hall were replaced with the more energy-effiecient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 68,862 hours. The simple payback for this project is -4.1 years. There are 777 T-12 fixtures in Gregory Hall remaining to be switched.

As part of the ICECF 2009 Lighting Retrofit, 195 T-12 fixtures in Morrill Hall were replaced with the more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 25,781 hours. The simple payback for this project is -4.45 years. There are 2,594 T-12 fixtures in Morrill Hall that remain to be switched.

As part of the ICECF 2009 Lighting Retrofit, 4,248 T-12 fixtures in the Vet Med Basic Sciences Building were replaced with more energy-efficient T-8 fixtures. This switch will incur an Annual kWh Savings of 796,429 hours. The simple payback for this project is 0.11 years.