Skidmore College
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.52 / 6.00 |
Levi
Rogers Director of Sustainability Programs and Assessment Sustainability Office |
Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity | 23,919,323 Kilowatt-hours | 81,612.73 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 | 105,546.10 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water | 0 MMBtu |
Total site energy consumption, performance year:
Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
| Floor area | |
| Laboratory space | 41,567 Square feet |
| Healthcare space | 0 Square feet |
| Other energy intensive space | 9,870 Square feet |
EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
Degree days, performance year:
| Degree days | |
| Heating degree days | 6,294 Degree-Days (°F) |
| Cooling degree days | 970 Degree-Days (°F) |
Total degree days, performance year:
Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
| Start date | End date | |
| Performance period | June 1, 2018 | May 31, 2019 |
Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
Electricity use, baseline year (report kWh):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity | 20,627,059 Kilowatt-hours | 70,379.53 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 | 168,747 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water | 0 MMBtu |
Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
| Start date | End date | |
| Baseline period | June 1, 1999 | May 31, 2000 |
A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
Skidmore's 2015-2025 Campus Sustainability Plan uses the year 2000 as its baseline for tracking progress toward the institution's sustainability goals. Some of the College's earliest sustainability efforts began in the early 2000's, including several major energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects. Using 2000 as our baseline year ensures that we account for our earliest efforts to reduce institutional GHG emissions.
Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
| Site energy | Source energy | |
| Performance year | 0.10 MMBtu per square foot | 0.18 MMBtu per square foot |
| Baseline year | 0.17 MMBtu per square foot | 0.27 MMBtu per square foot |
Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
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:
Skidmore Unplugged is an annual three-week energy conservation competition designed to promote energy-conscious behavior through education and action. The program encourages students living on campus to achieve the greatest reduction in electricity usage and teaches our broader campus community about the environmental and societal implications of energy consumption. Skidmore's Sustainability Representatives (S-Reps) develop education campaigns and programming to engage the community in conversations about energy use, its impact on people and the environment, and equip members with knowledge, tools, and skills to reduce their energy consumption.
A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
Controls Systems: Skidmore's building control system allows the College to program temperature set-backs in campus buildings. The temperature ranges are defined the College's Campus Building Temperature Initiative.
Campus Building Temperature Initiative: Skidmore's Campus Building Temperature Initiative is designed to save energy during the heating and cooling seasons by raising temperature set points a few degrees during the cooling season and lowering the set points a few degrees during the heating season. The program includes policies for daytime temperatures, night and weekend temperatures, and vacation temperatures for both academic and residential spaces.
Occupancy Sensors: In the spirit of energy conservation and carbon emission reductions, Facilities Services installed occupancy sensors in appropriate offices, classrooms, and restrooms across campus. Occupancy sensors control about 90% of campus lighting.
Cold Water Wash: Skidmore's washing machines use only cold water to reduce energy demands.
A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The College continues to employ energy-efficient lighting across campus. Skidmore converted all street and walkway lighting (about 550 light posts) from high intensity discharge bulbs to induction lighting. This transition saves about 18% in electricity consumption within our outdoor lighting system. The College also transitioned from T12 to T8 lighting in many buildings, and we continue to test LED lighting in many buildings across campus.
Daylighting: The Arthur Zankel Music Center and the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall were designed to take advantage of daylight. Large window facades to allow light to fill the buildings and reduce electricity consumption.
A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
Geothermal: About 35% of the campus is heated and cooled with geothermal energy. The Arthur Zankel Music Center, Filene Music Building, Saisselin Art Center, Northwoods and Sussman Village Apartments, Murray-Aikins Dining Hall, Wiecking Hall, Tang Teaching Museum, and Dance Center utilize geothermal heating and cooling systems. These systems provide 100% of the cooling needs and about 70% of the heating needs of most buildings and about 95% of the heating needs of the dining hall.
In 2012, Skidmore College won the Best Campus Sustainability Case Study Award from AASHE for our innovative district geothermal system. A district field is one that supplies heating and cooling energy to multiple buildings, unlike stand-alone systems that provide energy to a single building. Two district geothermal systems are operational, and a third district system was built to support an additional 10% of campus square footage. The College has 23 stand-alone systems supporting the buildings in the Northwoods and Sussman Apartment Villages and the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall.
The Arts Quad district system is an 84-bore geothermal field designed to heat and cool Zankel Music Theatre, Filene Hall, Saisselin Art Building, and the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater (178,300 square feet). Skidmore’s district design reduced the number of geothermal bores and total field loop size by 25% when compared to a stand-alone system. The buildings in the Arts Quad can also communicate to distribute surplus energy between buildings rather than pulling energy from the bore field.
In 2014, Skidmore installed its second district field under Wiecking Green. This 64-bore field supplies heating and cooling energy to Wiecking Hall, the Tang Teaching Museum, and our Dance Center. In 2016, the College completed the construction of our third district field. This 240-bore system is designed to support the heating and cooling needs of the Tisch Learning Center, Bolton Hall, Palamountain Hall, the Dana Science Center, and Skidmore's new Center for Integrated Sciences.
The Murray-Aikins Dining Hall and all 22 campus apartment buildings (over 200 residences) are heated and cooled with stand-alone geothermal systems.
Heat Recovery Wheel: Skidmore included a heat recovery wheel (or thermal wheel) in the Arthur Zankel Music Center's air systems to recover and transfer heat energy. The large, rotating wheel captures heat energy from the building's air exhaust system and transfers it to the air intake system. This initial conditioning step improves the efficiency of the building's geothermal heating and cooling system.
Passive Solar: The Arthur Zankel Music Center and the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall were designed with large window facades to capture and retain solar heat energy.
A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
The College has studied co-generation but has not yet employed the technology.
A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
When possible, Skidmore chooses ultra high-efficiency lighting, heating, cooling, systems when completing major building renovations or replacing equipment.
Skidmore replaced it's inefficient centralized heating loop with far more efficient decentralized heating systems, saving 25-30% of our natural gas load.
Any major remodeling project or new construction is designed as close to LEED standards as is feasible.
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:
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.