Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.11
Liaison Elizabeth Drake
Submission Date April 19, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Swarthmore College
OP-5: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.04 / 6.00 Ralph Thayer
Director of Maintenance
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Figures needed to determine total building energy consumption:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 50,693 MMBtu 58,493 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site renewables 6 MMBtu 0 MMBtu
District steam/hot water (sourced from offsite) 0 MMBtu 0 MMBtu
Energy from all other sources (e.g., natural gas, fuel oil, propane/LPG, district chilled water, coal/coke, biomass) 87,071 MMBtu 103,339 MMBtu
Total 137,770 MMBtu 161,832 MMBtu

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods):
Start Date End Date
Performance Year Jan. 1, 2016 Dec. 31, 2016
Baseline Year Jan. 1, 2005 Dec. 31, 2005

A brief description of when and why the building energy consumption baseline was adopted (e.g. in sustainability plans and policies or in the context of other reporting obligations):

2005 was our peak year for energy consumption after a decade of growth.


Gross floor area of building space:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area of building space 1,611,182 Gross square feet 1,444,010 Gross square feet

Source-site ratio for grid-purchased electricity:
2.25

Total building energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Site energy 0.09 MMBtu per square foot 0.11 MMBtu per square foot
Source energy 0.12 MMBtu per square foot 0.16 MMBtu per square foot

Percentage reduction in total building energy consumption (source energy) per unit of floor area from baseline:
23.27

Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F / 18 °C):
Degree days (see help icon above)
Heating degree days 4,227 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 1,527 Degree-Days (°F)

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor Area
Laboratory space 34,000 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
1,779,463 Gross square feet

Building energy consumption (site energy) per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
13.46 Btu / GSF / Degree-Day (°F)

Documentation (e.g. spreadsheet or utility records) 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 (e.g. outreach and education efforts):
---

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution (e.g. building temperature standards, occupancy and vacancy sensors):

We practice rigorous energy management with a Siemens DDC night time set backs, room scheduling via the academic calendar and some level of light control


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

LEDs are being used in the dining hall. The hvac renovation that took place in Parrish replaced all the office fluorescents with LED fixtures. The elevator cars in Kohlberg and the Science center were fitted with LED's and Lang PAC is replacing 216-100watt floods with 13watt LED floods. All new lighting is specified to be LED unless impractical or special purpose.


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

Two new buildings are under construction heated and cooled by geothermal wells.


A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution, e.g. combined heat and power (CHP):
---

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives (e.g. building re-commissioning or retrofit programs):

All replacement appliances are specified to be Energy Star rated.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Some of our numbers for floor space differ from those reported in IC 2. The numbers above were reported by Ralph Thayer and have been used in calculations above.


Some of our numbers for floor space differ from those reported in IC 2. The numbers above were reported by Ralph Thayer and have been used in calculations above.

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.