Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	72.66
Liaison	Megan Litke
Submission Date	March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

American University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	4.48 / 6.00	Courtney Stoner Sustainability Analyst Office of Sustainability

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Site energy use per unit of floor area

Performance year energy consumption

Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):

	kWh	MMBtu
Imported electricity	54,520,721 Kilowatt-hours	186,024.70 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems)	484,739.29 Kilowatt-hours	1,653.93 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):

	MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy	139,117.50 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water	0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:

326,796.13 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

410,257.33 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	1,947.25 Square meters
Healthcare space	246.47 Square meters
Other energy intensive space	7,823.73 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

422,468.50 Gross square meters

Performance year heating and cooling degree days

Degree days, performance year:

	Degree days
Heating degree days	2,053.33 Degree-Days (°C)
Cooling degree days	1,053.33 Degree-Days (°C)

Total degree days, performance year:

3,106.67 Degree-Days (°C)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):

	Start date	End date
Performance period	July 1, 2018	June 30, 2019

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:

76.85 Btu / GSM / Degree-Day (°C)

Part 2. Reduction in source energy use per unit of floor area

Baseline year energy consumption

STARS 2.2 requires electricity data in kilowatt-hours (kWh). If a baseline has already been established in a previous version of STARS and the institution wishes to continue using it, the electricity data must be re-entered in kWh. To convert existing electricity figures from MMBtu to kWh, simply multiply by 293.07107 MMBtu/kWh.

Electricity use, baseline year (report kWh):

	kWh	MMBtu
Imported electricity	54,634,308.90 Kilowatt-hours	186,412.26 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems)	0 Kilowatt-hours	0 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):

	MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy	121,510 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water	0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:

307,922.26 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:

279,568.72 Gross square meters

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):

	Start date	End date
Baseline period	May 1, 2005	April 30, 2006

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:

The building energy consumption baseline was adopted in alignment with our sustainability plan.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:

	Site energy	Source energy
Performance year	0.80 MMBtu per square meter	1.70 MMBtu per square meter
Baseline year	1.10 MMBtu per square meter	2.43 MMBtu per square meter

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:

30.04

Optional Fields

Documentation 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:

The Office of Sustainability and Energy and Engineering Team collaborate throughout the year on outreach campaigns to promote energy efficient behaviors.

Residential students are educated on the AU temperature policy, which keeps the residence hall spaces at energy-efficient temperatures.

Every winter break, the University implements curtailment. All buildings are shut down and students, faculty, and staff are instructed to turn off and unplug appliances, close windows, etc.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:

AU has a sophisticated Building Automation System (BAS) program which controls temperatures. For example, it includes temperature controls for night time set backs when building spaces are not occupied to ensure energy conservation. The Energy and Engineering Team also uses MeteoViva software, which determines a building's future needs for heating and cooling to reduce its energy costs. The software incorporates data from a building's heating and cooling usage and needs, and calculates the optimal settings for its Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:

LED (Light-Emitting-Diode) lights were installed in the School of International Service parking garage and in the street lamps that light pathways on campus. Vending machines on campus were upgraded in 2010 with LED lighting.

See the LED Lighting section of the University's Design and Construction Standards: https://www.american.edu/finance/facilities/upload/26-55-22-led-lighting.pdf

LED fixtures with a Design Lights Consortium (DLC) listing, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) “LED Lighting Facts” label or a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR label, which have demonstrated third-party testing verification.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:

The School of International Service (SIS) building features a passive solar air heating system.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:

In April 2020 (not covered by the reporting period for this data), a massive project to update the heating systems on campus was completed, which included co-generation.

https://www.american.edu/finance/news/new-gas-turbines-generating-onsite-electricity.cfm

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:

As part of the University Design Standards, "Energy Star rated equipment is required for commercial dishwashers, fryers, griddles, hot food holding cabinets, ice machines, ovens, refrigerators and freezers, and steam cookers as well as any other product category as ratings become available."

Additionally, many of the standard appliances for dorms and offices are Energy Star rated appliances.

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:

http://www.american.edu/finance/sustainability/Tracking-Progress.cfm

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Baseline year is FY 2006. Performance year is FY 2019. Reporting includes electricity, gas, solar PV, solar thermal energy consumption and distillate oil (in FY06).

Degree Days were obtained from Energy Star Portfolio Manager (https://portfoliomanager.energystar.gov/pm/degreeDaysCalculator), nearest weather station is Reagan National Airport (KDCA)

*Data is from FY19 due to COVID-19 impacts of FY20.

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.