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U.Va. Earns Magna Cum Laude in EPA's 1998 Honor Society January 5, 1999 -- The University of Virginia's Energy Program has again won high honors -- magna cum laude Honor Society member -- awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This was the fourth major award the U.Va. Energy Program, directed by Anthony Motto of Facilities Management, has earned for achieving energy efficient goals. In March, U.Va. was the only university awarded 1998 Energy Star Buildings and Green Lights Partner/Ally of the Year in Washington, DC. In late 1997, EPA selected U.Va. for the Green Lights Honor Society, and in 1996, EPA awarded U.Va. a bronze medal for achievement in energy efficiency. And what work did U.Va. do to earn these accolades? Lighting retrofits and upgrades. Chilled water connections. Occupancy sensors. LED exit signs. Insulated heating pipes. It's that simple. Yet an annual savings of $415,000 is expected from the work accomplished in 1997-98 alone. Lighting retrofits and upgrades in 10 buildings accounted for $110,000 of the savings. Since becoming a Green Lights partner, U.Va. has upgraded lighting in 58 buildings -- that is 38 percent of the University's space or more than 3 million square feet. A new chilled water line connection between the Chemistry Building and U.Va.'s chiller plant in 1998 should save $263,500. The installation of occupancy sensors will save $7,200 and LED exit signs will save $12,200. In underground steam tunnels deteriorated insulation on heating pipes was replaced and will see $22,000 in energy savings. The last point is significant. Normalizing data for the last fiscal year and comparing heating energy consumption on a unit basis for the first five-year period of 1979-1984 to the most recent five years, the data indicate that the University has reduced its heating energy consumption by an average of over 6,500 BTU/GSF. If the University had not accomplished energy conservation work or aggressively replaced building boilers with connections to central plants, its heating energy consumption would have increased rather than decreased over the last 15 years due to the higher quantities of outside air currently required by the BOCA Mechanical Code and the energy intensive research facilities and Hospital that have been constructed. Calculating savings from the 6,500 BTU/GSF heating energy reduction alone results in savings of over $440,000 for last year. For more information, contact: Tony Motto, Energy Program Manager, (804) 982-5893, e-mail awm3g@virginia.edu; Elizabeth Wooding, Information Officer, U.Va. Facilities Management, (804) 982-5846, e-mail ebw2s@virginia.edu. |
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