Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.25
Liaison Laura Bain
Submission Date Jan. 26, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Furman University
OP-8: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.50 / 6.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total building energy consumption, all sources (transportation fuels excluded):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total building energy consumption 108,102.40 MMBtu 189,087.82 MMBtu

Purchased electricity and steam:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 108,102.40 MMBtu 189,087.82 MMBtu
District steam/hot water 0 MMBtu 0 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 2,432,286 Gross square feet 1,548,245 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year::
Floor Area
Laboratory space 239,671 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space

Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F)::
Degree days (see help icon above)
Heating degree days 2,715
Cooling degree days 1,873

Source-site ratios::
Source-Site Ratio (see help icon above)
Grid-purchased electricity 3.14
District steam/hot water 1.20

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods)::
Start Date End Date
Performance Year July 1, 2013 June 30, 2014
Baseline Year July 1, 2004 June 30, 2005

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

Furman's fiscal year 2012 STARS report utilized the baseline year 2005, thus for constistency, the 2005 baseline remained.


A brief description of any building temperature standards employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any light emitting diode (LED) lighting employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any occupancy and/or vacancy sensors employed by the institution:

Many classrooms and dorm bathrooms have vacancy sensors that turn off the lights automatically.


A brief description of any passive solar heating employed by the institution:

The Shi Center for Sustainability and Hipp Hall both utilize passive solar heating.


A brief description of any ground-source heat pumps employed by the institution:

Furman replaced aging heat pumps in 10 of our North Village apartment buildings with new, highly efficient geothermal ground-source heat pumps, which will take advantage of the constant temperature of the earth to pre-heat or pre-cool air for ventilation. The project, paid for by a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy and matching funds from the university, will be completed in 2013.


A brief description of any cogeneration technologies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any building recommissioning or retrofit program employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any energy metering and management systems employed by the institution:

The dashboard allows Furman community members to view energy use in real-time through an easy-to-use website. We’ve made the data available to faculty and students for use in the classroom and in research, making it easier to build connections between the coursework and university operations. The dashboard was partially funded by a gift from The Duke Endowment. For more information on Furman's dashboard contact the Shi Center.


A brief description of the institution's program to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
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A brief description of any energy-efficient landscape design initiatives employed by the institution:

In the past decade, Furman has used a number of different LID practices and products on a multitude of projects – both new and renovation. These include: structural grass pavement and gravel pavement, porous concrete pavement, pervious brick pavement (with underdrain filtration), native plants, solar energy, rainwater harvesting and storage for irrigation, salvaging of construction materials and stock piling for future use, low VOC paints and adhesives, bio-retention ponds and surfaces, detention ponds, grass filtration strips, buffers on both sides of Little Creek, and manufactured structures such as catch basin inserts, cyclone separators and offset bay separators. And, of course, the new Synthetic Turf Football Field that catches and slows the runoff rate, cleans the stormwater of sediment, and does not require the use of nutrients that damage the environment.


A brief description of any vending machine sensors, lightless machines, or LED-lit machines employed by the institution:
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A brief description of other energy conservation and efficiency initiatives employed by the institution:
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The website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
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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.