Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.09
Liaison Ciara Tennis
Submission Date Nov. 10, 2021

STARS v2.2

Eastern Connecticut State University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.79 / 6.00 Renee Theroux-Keech
Interim Director
Office of Facilities Management & Planning
"---" 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 17,779,131 Kilowatt-hours 60,662.39 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 0 Kilowatt-hours 0 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 124,166.86 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
184,829.25 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
2,419,009 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 12,656 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 51,263 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
2,495,584 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 5,935.20 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 888.40 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
6,823.60 Degree-Days (°F)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period July 1, 2019 June 30, 2020

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
10.85 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 19,637,452 Kilowatt-hours 67,002.99 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 94,625.29 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
161,628.28 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
2,329,470 Gross square feet

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period July 1, 2016 June 30, 2017

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

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.08 MMBtu per square foot 0.13 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.07 MMBtu per square foot 0.13 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:
0.27

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:
Starting in 2021, we began an load-shedding program with Eversource during times of grid stress. This includes shedding load with cooling towers by either raising temperatures in buildings or turning off air conditioning/heating for a period of a few hours (minimum 3 hours). We plan to encourage the campus community to reduce load on their own by educating them about the campus efforts with Eversource.

Eastern's energy dashboard is available Eastern's website to view energy useage. The dashboard includes a variety of data and displays, including energy usage per building and logged data. https://www.easternct.edu/facilities/energy-dashboard.html
This application was created with a collaboration between the Facilities department and Automated Building Systems, Inc. The electrical data shown is captured and logged by the Alerton building management system, which also controls the temperature and air changes (HVAC) in most of the campus buildings. The Alerton and Encelium systems work together to adjust to energy needs across campus.

The use of the Encelium system throughout campus allows individuals to dim the lights in their areas, which significantly contributes to energy use reductions and savings. Encelium includes lighting and occupancy controls. The lighting controls allows the lights of whole buildings to be dimmed to 70% of their typical lighting, with further dimming or turning off enabled for occupants. The occupancy controls allows the lights to turn off and the HVAC to reduce the number of air changes if a room is unoccupied for a set period. An increased number of occupants would also cause the system to increase the number of air exchanges in the room. This system saves money and energy, as the energy used is tailored to the needs of a building's occupancy level.

Every semester, residence halls compete for the Dean's Cup, which includes a month-long competition to reduce electricity use, earning the hall that reduced their usage the most points toward the Dean's Cup.

Signage is posted within buildings regarding their LEED status.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
Heating cooling range is set at between 69-and 73 degrees Fahrenheit according to Connecticut state statutes. The state has guidelines for the start dates of heating and cooling seasons which Eastern abides by.

In Eastern's Library, Gelsi-Young Hall Administration Building, Fine Arts Instructional Center, and the Student Center there has been installation of an Encelium Energy Control System that utilizes six different energy management strategies in order to maximize energy savings.

The Encelium system utilizes the following strategies to maximize energy savings:
-smart-time scheduling for zones not appropriate for occupancy sensors,
-daylight harvesting to the adjustment of lighting levels based on natural sunlight,
-task tuning to avoid over lighting particular areas,
-occupancy controls to automatically turn lights off when not needed,
-personal controls so individuals can set their own workspace preferences, and
-light dimming to shave peak demand and reduce energy consumption.
We can track performance by building, year to year to manage consumption and loads.

All campus buildings are connected to a building automation system that allows Facilities to set heating and cooling ranges or set points that prevents individual buildings from using energy beyond the set points (5-degree range), providing set temperature ranges available to occupants.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
LED lighting is utilized in exterior site lighting throughout most of the campus. Interior LED lighting is also utilized at Hurley Hall dining area and bathrooms, Webb Hall faculty office wing hallway lighting, Student Center, Goddard Hall, Communications Building, Shafer Hall, Facilities Building, two parking garages, Fine Arts Instructional Center, Noble Hall, and Athletic Complex parking lot.

Most of the exterior lights are set with solar sensors to control when the lights turn on and off and reduce unnecessary energy usage.

We also utilize daylighting controls in the Science Building, Communications Building, Goddard Hall, and our parking garages to further reduce energy usage.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
Our nine-story residence hall, High Rise, has geothermal heating and cooling.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
The Science Building has a 400kw fuel cell which converts natural gas into electricity and both high and low-grade heat for the building. In 2017 we replaced the 400kw fuel cell with a 440kw fuel cell.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
Eastern has been retro-commissioning buildings through utility incentive programs. We are embarking on retro-commissions for the Fine Arts Instructional Center.

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:
Eastern does no import steam, hot water, and/or chilled water, so 0.0 MMBtu was reported.

For the next submission, use the Fiscal Year 2020 data above as the baseline year for this credit to account for updated data and methods.

Information for this credit was provided by Renee Theroux-Keech, Director of Facilities Management & Planning.

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.