Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.09
Liaison Lissette Hernandez
Submission Date Aug. 22, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Florida International University
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 4.00 Alexandra Dutton
Program Manager
Office of University Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption (all sources, excluding transportation fuels), performance year :
508,673.57 MMBtu

Option 1 

Total clean and renewable electricity generated on site during the performance year and for which the institution retains or has retired the associated environmental attributes:
0.06 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable electricity generating devices :
The School of International and Public Affairs building has a small photovoltaic installation on the roof. This installation produces about 17 kWh annually. This is currently the only renewable energy on campus. The FIU Solar House recently opened and will contribute to FIU's renewable energy generation when reporting on the 2017 fiscal year. FIU is 100% committed to renewable energy as long as the project is truly sustainable meaning it is also economically feasible and has a payback of less than 5-7 years. FIU is working on many other energy projects that can have major impacts on sustainability, for example our energy conservation efforts.

Option 2 

Non-electric renewable energy generated on-site, performance year:
0 MMBtu

None
A brief description of on-site renewable non-electric energy devices:
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Option 3 

Total clean and renewable electricity generated by off-site projects that the institution catalyzed and for which the institution retains or has retired the associated environmental attributes, performance year:
0 MMBtu

None
A brief description of off-site, institution-catalyzed, renewable electricity generating devices:
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Option 4 

Total third-party certified RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products (including renewable electricity purchased through a utility-provided certified green power option) purchased during the performance year:
0 MMBtu

A brief description of the RECs, GOs and/or similar renewable energy products, including contract timeframes:
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Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Sierra magazine requests the following information from U.S. institutions that wish to share data with that organization:

Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
Percentage of total electricity use (0-100)
Biomass 1.90
Coal 21.70
Geothermal 0
Hydro 0.10
Natural gas 61.40
Nuclear 12.70
Solar photovoltaic 0.10
Wind 0
Other (please specify and explain below) 2.08

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Sources not listed above: Oil - 0.8% Other fossil fuels - 0.6% Other unknown - 0.7% Source - eGRID2014v2 Subregion Resource Mix - FRCC https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-02/documents/egrid2014_summarytables_v2.pdf

Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass 0
Coal 0
Electricity 100
Fuel oil 0
Geothermal 0
Natural gas 0
Other (please specify and explain below) 0

A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
Not applicable

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
0.00

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
FIU tops the Florida State University System in energy performance, saving millions each year in energy costs. FIU decided to work on efficiency first, before we explore renewable energy. The most effective way to achieve environmental sustainability is to use less energy. Using less energy means reduced demand on energy generators. Energy never used is the cleanest, greenest, and most renewable of all energy sources. By this standard, FIU again leads all Florida universities. If has over $1 million in annual savings and almost $10 million over nine years compared to the #2 performer in the Florida State University System. FIU has more than $6 million in annual savings and $58 million in nine years savings when compared to the Florida State University System average. The university received a Prudential Productivity Award in June 2017 for the energy performance. “This accomplishment is the sum of multiple efforts by the Facilities Management team including utility plant performance, efficient lighting, smart light switches, low-flow water fixtures and chilled water temperature monitoring. The university’s ongoing efforts to increase performance include independent utility meters, LED lighting in all new projects, online Building Management System (BMS) and working hand-by-hand with the FIU Office of Sustainability.” - 2/25/2014 internal press release on FIU energy performance http://facilities.fiu.edu/Documents/Energy_Docs/FY14-15-FIU-SUS-Energy-Performance-Presentation.pdf http://facilities.fiu.edu/Documents/Energy_Docs/FIU_Energy_Press_Release_2014.pdf

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.