Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.40
Liaison Margaret Lo
Submission Date June 12, 2023

STARS v2.2

Ball State University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.81 / 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 123,858,510 Kilowatt-hours 422,605.24 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 225,430 Kilowatt-hours 769.17 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 228,810 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
652,184.40 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
7,388,700 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 486,980 Square feet
Healthcare space 32,285 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 198,368 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
8,625,598 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 5,435 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 1,213.60 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
6,648.60 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, 2022 Dec. 31, 2022

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
11.37 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 0.09 MMBtu per square foot 0.21 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:
17.62

Optional Fields 

Documentation to support the performance year energy consumption figures reported above:
---

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices in regard to energy efficiency:
---

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
Buildings are conditioned with central station air handling units and variable air volume terminal units. The terminal units are controlled via a schedule and the minimum air volume and space temperature are setback at night. Space thermostats are always locked with a 4 degree deadband.
Air handling units have economizer control and discharge air reset to minimize the need to mechanically cool and reheat the air stream.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
All recent renovations and new construction projects, are designed with LED lighting as standard.
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.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
Ball State University completed installation of a District-Scale Geothermal (Closed-Loop, Ground-Source) Heat Pump Chiller Heating and Cooling System in 2012, which provides heating and cooling to 47 campus buildings (some 7.2 million square feet).

Ball State has completed two, roof mounted, solar panel installations. A 200kW system was installed on Health Professions Building and a 16.2kW system on the Rinard Orchid Greenhouse.

Related strategies include:

Heat exchangers were added on the domestic hot water systems in many buildings to preheat incoming cold water prior to the local domestic hot water heaters. The preheat is provided by the campus geothermal heating hot water to create more balance between the campus chilled water loads and heating hot water loads.

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.

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.

LEED Certification/LEED Buildings. In 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.

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:
---

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.