Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 52.41
Liaison Susan Dorward
Submission Date April 14, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Raritan Valley Community College
OP-8: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.03 / 6.00 Susan Dorward
Sustainability and Energy Coordinator
Facilities and Grounds
"---" 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 76,817 MMBtu 134,708 MMBtu

Purchased electricity and steam:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 31,733 MMBtu 32,119 MMBtu
District steam/hot water 0 MMBtu 0 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 510,000 Gross square feet 441,000 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year::
Floor Area
Laboratory space 12,500 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 4,886
Cooling degree days 1,523

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:

The '04-'05 baseline was adopted in '11 when RVCC first applied for a STARS rating.


A brief description of any building temperature standards employed by the institution:

RVCC uses a building control system from Automated Logic Corporation to manage the HVAC systems for most buildings on campus. When occupied (between 6:30am and 9 or 10pm in most buildings), temperatures are set at 69-70 in winter and 72 in summer. When unoccupied, temperatures are allowed to range between 55 and 85 degrees in most buildings. Temperatures are adjusted upon request from occupants.


A brief description of any light emitting diode (LED) lighting employed by the institution:

LED lighting is used in Lot 8, the gym, the theater, and in many locations across campus. Many PAR30 and PAR38 bulbs are now LED and some 2x2's are LED.


A brief description of any occupancy and/or vacancy sensors employed by the institution:

Motion sensors are used to control lighting in the majority of classrooms on campus.


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

The Library is partially heated by passive solar through the extensive south facing windows. Somerset Hall, the West building, and the upper floors of Hunterdon also benefit from significant southern exposure (the length of the buildings facing south). The West building has sun shields above the southern windows to provide shade in summer but allow light in winter.


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

In 2007, RVCC installed a 1.4MW co-generation engine, becoming the first community college in the country to do so. The co-generation unit is a natural gas fired reciprocating engine that generates 1.4 megawatts of electricity coupled to an absorption unit that converts exhaust engine gases to either 320 tons of cooling or 2000 MMbtu hot water.
The goal of the plant is to reduce carbon emissions by 1900 tons per year. The College received a grant for $1 million from the NJ Board of Public Utilities to construct the cogeneration plant.


A brief description of any building recommissioning or retrofit program employed by the institution:

HVAC equipment has been recommissioned as part of the rollout of automated controls across campus. All buildings except for portions of Somerset and Hunterdon have been recommissioned. New HVAC equipment has been installed in the Arts building.


A brief description of any energy metering and management systems employed by the institution:

Realtime energy monitoring is done on the solar array in Lot 5, through an Innova online tool.


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

Computer equipment is EPEAT Gold (computers), Silver (monitors) or Bronze (printers).


A brief description of any energy-efficient landscape design initiatives employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any vending machine sensors, lightless machines, or LED-lit machines employed by the institution:

VendingMisers are installed on most drink vending machines on campus. (They are not installed on Energy Star vending machines.)


A brief description of other energy conservation and efficiency initiatives employed by the institution:

A heat exchanger was installed to heat the pool from the campus loop in winter. A high efficiency (95%) condensing boiler was installed to heat the pool in the summer.


The website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

West building is 45,000 sq. feet. Student Center is 24,000. Building energy consumption is 9307301 kWh (31733 MMbtu), 278993 therms (27899 MMbtu) and 12544 gal #2 heating oil (1719 MMbtu). Grid-purchase electricity includes from Lot 5 solar array, since we don't own the SRECs. Source ratios are US, from EPA Portfolio Manager.

Grid-purchased energy does not include energy from on-site solar array. (Need to reduce number to reflect this.)

Lab space is half of Science building. Other energy intensive space is half of a floor of the West building for computer labs (7500), plus the data center (1000) and the cafeteria kitchen (3000).


West building is 45,000 sq. feet. Student Center is 24,000. Building energy consumption is 9307301 kWh (31733 MMbtu), 278993 therms (27899 MMbtu) and 12544 gal #2 heating oil (1719 MMbtu). Grid-purchase electricity includes from Lot 5 solar array, since we don't own the SRECs. Source ratios are US, from EPA Portfolio Manager.

Grid-purchased energy does not include energy from on-site solar array. (Need to reduce number to reflect this.)

Lab space is half of Science building. Other energy intensive space is half of a floor of the West building for computer labs (7500), plus the data center (1000) and the cafeteria kitchen (3000).

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.