Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 78.11
Liaison Kristin Larson
Submission Date Oct. 23, 2023

STARS v2.2

San Diego State University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.49 / 6.00 Molly Weber
AASHE STARS Student Intern
Office of Energy & Sustainability
"---" 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 18,297,859 Kilowatt-hours 62,432.29 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 1,356,672.87 Kilowatt-hours 4,628.97 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 742,861 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
809,922.26 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
6,659,922 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 293,363 Square feet
Healthcare space 82,584 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 130,893 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
7,542,709 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 2,409.70 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 957.70 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
3,367.40 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, 2021 June 30, 2022

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
31.89 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 9,756,300 Kilowatt-hours 33,288.50 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 944,935 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
978,223.50 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
5,193,957 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, 2007 June 1, 2008

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

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.12 MMBtu per square foot 0.14 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.19 MMBtu per square foot 0.20 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:
29.88

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:
The Office of Sustainability hired a student intern beginning in Fall 2018 to manage and expand the Green Office Certification Program (GOCP) on campus. The GOCP promotes awareness and behavior change around energy and sustainability efforts in individual departments on campus. The program was paused during the pandemic and has since been revitalized.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
Facilities Services also implemented an energy savings software, Events2HVAC, that has saved approximately $12,000 this year. This software allows the room reservation system to communicate with the Building Automation System (BAS) controlling heating and cooling units to turn-on 20 minutes before a room is occupied and to turn-off afterwards, saving energy and providing increased thermal comfort.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Facilities Services was required to comply with ASHRAE standards for ventilation with heating and cooling. For this reason, Events2HVAC was paused but was reinstated on July 1st 20223 to pre-COVID standards.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
Facilities Services removed fluorescent lighting and replaced it with LEDs for a total energy cost savings of approximately $95,000 for the fiscal year of 2019-2020.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
1MW of solar photovoltaics that is distributed on the rooftops of campus buildings and one parking structure.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
SDSU has a cogeneration plant that is comprised of two natural gas turbines and one steam turbine that produces steam to heat campus as well as generates 85% of the campus's electricity needs.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
Facilities Services implemented a retro-commissioning project at Arts & Letters resulting in a reduction in energy use by over 35%. Other retro-commissioning projects currently underway include CSL, GMCS, Fowler Athletics, and Peterson Gym. We are in the process of achieving LEED-EBOM certification for GMCS. Pairing well with commissioning, Facilities Services has set the Energy Information System, SkySpark, up with fault detection to act as an alert system for building and equipment failures. This allows Facilities the opportunity to repair the problem at the initial onset. This increases thermal comfort, and ultimately, saves energy and reduces cost.

The Office of Sustainability has implemented an Energy Information System that monitors campus meters and records energy and water consumption (in the form of electricity, natural gas, hot and chilled water), as well as waste per building. This allows more frequent and accurate data reporting on our campus dashboards and enables us to identify usage trends and anomalies.

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

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.