Overall Rating	Silver
Overall Score	61.60
Liaison	Megan Curtis-Murphy
Submission Date	Feb. 28, 2023

STARS v2.2

Northeastern University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	3.42 / 6.00	Jacob Glickel Director of Sustainability Operations Climate Justice & Sustainability Hub

"---" 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	102,894,000 Kilowatt-hours	351,074.33 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	556,238 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water	0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:

907,312.33 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:

680,848.09 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:

	Floor area
Laboratory space	58,098.38 Square meters
Healthcare space	1,200.31 Square meters
Other energy intensive space	11,884.52 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:

811,329.98 Gross square meters

Performance year heating and cooling degree days

Degree days, performance year:

	Degree days
Heating degree days	2,786.67 Degree-Days (°C)
Cooling degree days	644.44 Degree-Days (°C)

Total degree days, performance year:

3,431.11 Degree-Days (°C)

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:

100.60 Btu / GSM / Degree-Day (°C)

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	85,860,000 Kilowatt-hours	292,954.32 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	606,816 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water	0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:

899,770.32 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:

527,701.12 Gross square meters

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):

	Start date	End date
Baseline period	Jan. 1, 2005	Dec. 31, 2005

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

The energy consumption baseline of calendar year 2005 was chosen because the following years saw the university accelerate efforts to reduce energy consumption on campus and devote more resources to sustainable operations.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:

3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:

	Site energy	Source energy
Performance year	1.33 MMBtu per square meter	2.44 MMBtu per square meter
Baseline year	1.71 MMBtu per square meter	2.89 MMBtu per square meter

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

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

15.80

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:

Use the communications platform of Planning, Real Estate, and Facilities to educate students, faculty, and staff about conserving energy, shutting windows, and letting us know about issues, especially during the school breaks. Support student groups annual residential hall energy conservation contest. Install occupational sensors in rooms for lighting and thermostats in all new projects.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:

Occupancy control of HVAC systems has become a standard for new construction and building retrofits to reduce energy consumption in unoccupied labs and offices. Personal temperature control is available in the majority of campus spaces but limited to 68-72 degrees (F). Building Analytics and automation are not standard in all new projects and building renovations. All projects must meet LEED Gold certification.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:

The university has performed a campus-wide replacement of all 2X2, 2X4, and 1X4 fluorescent fixtures on campus with LEDs. The new fixtures are LED with on-board occupancy/daylight sensors and wireless communications between fixtures. Outdoor lighting is being replaced with LED fixtures to reduce energy consumption and use the precision of LEDs to illuminate the surfaces that are needed for safety but reduce light pollution.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:

The Integrated Science and Engineering (ISEC) building adopted a number of innovations to reduce thermal demand, including a solar wall, chilled beams, heat recovery chiller, and exterior solar sunshades. Our new science building (EXP), under construction, will incorporate these technologies and push the savings further using lessons learned from ISEC.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:

The University considered building a central co-generation plant to replace the existing steam plant. However, Northeastern decided on a different approach given that the plant would have been expensive, provided minimal carbon savings, and committed significant upfront investment in a technology that currently relies on fossil fuels.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:

The university has deployed building analytics software on approximately 30% of campus buildings and will continue to expand going forward to continually commission buildings. A campus-wide energy program to replace aging HVAC systems, upgrade energy infrastructure, switch to lower carbon steam, improve building envelopes, and expand implementation of buildings controls systems has been approved and is in active planning.

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:

https://facilities.northeastern.edu/sustainability/management/

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.