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Building-Level Energy Efficiency (Ongoing)

Recent Project Updates

  • 4/24/2023

    The Energy iCAP team held its last meeting of the Spring 2023 semester to discuss progress on its recommendation revitalizing the energy scholars committee and taking a look at potential future projects.

     

  • 3/27/2023

    The Energy iCAP team met on Monday 3/27/23 to discuss recommendations on energy standards for newly constructed buildings and improving communication of energy research on campus between labs and the broader campus community.

Key Objective

Description

The iCAP 2020 objective 2.2.2 is to "Reduce the total annual energy consumption of each college-level unit by at least 20% from an FY15 baseline by FY35." The responsible campus unit(s) for championing this objective are the individual buildings/units with F&S.

From the 2010 iCAP:

The projected carbon emissions for a business-as-usual scenario show significant increases in emissions due to additional square footage. The University will pursue strategies that slow the amount of increased square footage by judiciously examining existing space. The business-as-usual projection also presumes energy efficiency at historic levels. The University has implemented green building requirements that should improve performance levels, including a LEED Silver certification requirement for major new buildings and renovations. Results by the Rocky Mountain Institute show that there is no correlation between the level of LEED achieved by a building project and the project cost.19 Further, federal, state and local codes, ASHRAE, and AIA are targeting widespread deployment of net-zero commercial buildings by 2030, and the Department of Energy is seeking to make net-zero buildings financially viable by 2025. A net-zero building is one that generates as much energy as it uses over the course of an average calendar year. Projects that seek to do better than meet minimum campus standards should receive campus support or credit for the improvements compared to the baseline.

The campus will implement a freeze on new buildings and building additions once current planned projects are completed. Any new space must take an existing space of equal or greater size (or of equal or greater energy usage) out of commission. Furthermore, any building retrofit will be required to “do no harm”; that is, it should not increase the energy consumption of a building—if necessary by packaging together additional energy conservation and renewables as part of a project. New building projects will be net-zero or replace an existing building. These can be facilitated by a marketplace for space. All projects currently in planning require at least a 30 percent improvement in the proposed building performance rating compared with the baseline building performance rating, as calculated using the latest version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1.   Finally, the campus space market will include the demolition of certain buildings with poor energy performance, high deferred maintenance burdens, and low historical value. Campus buildings that are seen as approaching a deferred maintenance deficiency value that is higher than their current replacement value will be considered for removal or renovation.

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