Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.58
Liaison Margaret Lo
Submission Date July 14, 2022

STARS v2.2

Ball State University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.57 / 6.00 James Lowe
Associate Vice President for Facilities Planning and Management
Facilities Planning & Managment
"---" 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 123,843,471 Kilowatt-hours 422,553.92 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 214,000 Kilowatt-hours 730.17 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 13,211.18 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
436,495.27 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
7,239,767 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 495,309 Square feet
Healthcare space 33,171 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 194,052 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
8,490,779 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 5,100.50 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 1,274.60 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
6,375.10 Degree-Days (°F)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period Jan. 1, 2021 Dec. 31, 2021

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

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

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 138,958,794 Kilowatt-hours 474,127.41 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 343,842 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
817,969.41 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
7,166,210 Gross square feet

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period Jan. 1, 2018 Dec. 31, 2018

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

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.06 MMBtu per square foot 0.19 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.11 MMBtu per square foot 0.26 MMBtu per square foot

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
27.58

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:
Ball State has involved students in the past through the Ball State Energy Action Team (BEAT) oversees the Residence Hall Energy Challenge. The Challenge consists of the students living in the residence halls on Ball State’s campus, reducing energy consumption through changing simple tasks in their daily routine.

The winner is determined by how much the overall complex decreases their energy usage. The measurement is based on the electricity and energy consumption. Each
hall ‘s kilowatts are measured weekly with hopes of reducing their consumption by 10% of their starting baseline.

The university also created a Residents Sustainability Working Group to review all pillars of sustainability and a potential 2030 carbon neutral goal.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
WE DO NOT USE SET BACK CONTROLLERS. THEY ARE NOT ENERGY SAVERS FOR AN OVER-THE-NIGHT PERIOD OF TIME. WE USE VARIABLE VOLUME HVAC SYSTEMS WITH CO2 MONITORS. THIS TYPE OF ARRANGEMEMENT RAMPS THE INCOMING AIR SYSTEM DOWNWARD WHEN BUILDINGS ARE UNOCCUPIED. THE CO2 SENSORS ARE SET AT 800 PPM. WHEN THE 800 PPM CO2 LEVEL IS REACHED THE OUTDOOR AIR DAMPERS OPEN TO BRING IN MORE OUTSIDE AIR.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
SHAFER BELL TOWER, SCHEUMANN STADIUM FIELD LIGHTS AND WEST ELEVATION LIGHTS, ADMINISTRATION BUILDING BUSINESS AFFAIRS CONFERENCE ROOM, FACILITIES BUILDING, JOHNSON EAST, JOHNSON WEST, ELLIOT WAGONER DINING, WOODWORTH DINING, NOYER DINING, Lafollette DINING, WORTHEN ARENA AND CONCOURSE ALL use LED lighting. The football stadium is lit using LEDs. We have begun to convert all high pressure sodium street lights to LEDs. LEDs are now required in our facilities standards. ALL EMERGENCY EXIT SIGNS IN ALL BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS ARE ALSO “LED”.
All recent renovations and new construction projects, nearly 1,000,000 sf has a a standard the design standard for LED lighting.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
Ball State University has completed installation of a District-Scale Geothermal (Closed-Loop, Ground-Source) Heat Pump Chiller Heating and Cooling System, which provides heating and cooling to 47 campus buildings (some 7.2 million square feet).

Related strategies include:

Weatherization of envelopes: The university routinely upgrades insulation levels in roof decks when replacing worn-out roof surfaces with new systems; specifically rock-ballasted built-up roofing is replaced with cool-roof EPDM continuous membranes and/or green roofs. In addition, window replacement with high performance glazing and thermal-brake framing has been adopted as an operational standard.

Behavioral change campaign/communications. The university has facilitated month-long energy conservation competitions within the nine residence hall complexes and among all academic buildings. These competitions occur in the fall and spring semesters and are promoted with campus-wide email exchange and web-based reporting of week-to-week performance.

Lighting retrofits. The university has aggressively switched-out T12, halogen, incandescent, and high pressure sodium lamps as part of its on-going maintenance and rehabilitation programs. In addition, for new construction and substantial facility renovation, specifications mandate the use of LED light fixtures, and occupy sensing lighting controls.

Boiler retrofit/central heating/cooling upgrades. This comprises the core activity by which the university is dialing-down its greenhouse gas emissions; having eliminated four coal-fired boilers, three centrifugal heat-pump-chillers, and five water-based cooling towers.

Building system retro-commissioning and upgrades including automation. The university routinely switches-out dated equipment; installing variable-speed pumps and fan motors, CO2 return-air sensors, sub-zoning of air-handling equipment where feasible, and use of digital sensors to control systems operation.

LEED Certification/LEED Buildings. In its the 2007-12 and 2012-17 Strategic Plans, the university had adopted LEED Silver as the standard for all new construction and renovations/upgrades. In some instances, the university has achieved LEED Gold ratings for some of its newer buildings.

Innovative Strategies. The university has engaged in long-range planning for the future use of alternative energy sources on campus and on outlying properties owned by Ball State; including building-integrated photovoltaics, stand-alone-armature photovoltaics and wind energy conversion. In addition the university has expanded the involvement of students in immersive learning opportunities on campus (e.g. LEED Lab) wherein students under the mentorship of faculty evaluate building energy performance and provide actionable reports.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
None

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
We are currently conducting a LEED Lab course sequence in cooperation with USGBC to recertify a LEED building under EBOM guidelines. We have been successful in obtaining a LEED operation and maintenance certification for an existing LEED building. We have a second building submitted now to USGBC and are working on our third.

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program 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.