Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 69.15
Liaison Mary Ellen Mallia
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2023

STARS v2.2

University at Albany
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.94 / 6.00 Indu Lnu
Energy Officer
Facilities Management
"---" 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 66,929,302 Kilowatt-hours 228,362.78 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 992,314 Kilowatt-hours 3,385.78 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 464,244 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
695,992.55 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
6,375,183 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 303,880 Square feet
Healthcare space 13,236 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 783,466 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
7,792,881 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 6,066 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 523 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
6,589 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:
13.55 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 80,660,945 Kilowatt-hours 275,215.14 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 510,809 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
786,024.14 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
4,563,296 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, 2005 June 30, 2006

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
The university selected this baseline as it represents the year prior to when sustainability and energy efficiency programs were instituted.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.11 MMBtu per square foot 0.19 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.17 MMBtu per square foot 0.30 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:
38.33

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 partners with the Office of Energy Management to employ a variety of techniques to encourage energy conservation. This entails electronic messages on campus monitors and social media posts and the use of passive programming via fliers and brochures. Each building is given a poster to display that lists the amount of energy it used and the amount of carbon associated with this use. One apartment complex on campus is individually metered and these residents are given "fake" electric bills to education about energy use. A sample bill is attached below. These efforts are augmented by programs in the res halls.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
The University temperature setpoint policy can be found at https://www.albany.edu/facilities/documents/TempSetPointPolicy.pdf
The University’s personal appliance and equipment use guidelines can be found at:
https://www.albany.edu/facilities/energy/documents/Appliance_Guidelines.pdf
The University's Owner’s Project Requirements include High Performance Building standards including Energy Use Intensities in compliance with the SUNY Construction’s Fund’s Directive 1B-2: https://sucf.suny.edu/sites/default/files/docs/1B-2.pdf

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The University standard for all exterior and interior lighting is LED. University completed a $7Million lighting renovation project during the reporting period to upgrade all exterior building mounted, parking lots and pedestrian pathway fixtures to LED and interior lighting throughout the Downtown campus and select uptown campus spaces to LED.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
The university has a geothermal system at Liberty Terrace, our newest apartment complex. This has resulted in an estimated 40% use in energy when compared to the standard HVAC system. Geothermal heat pump system was also installed in the new ETEC building, which came online in July 2022. ETEC is the University’s first all-electric building that uses geothermal heat pump for 100% of its heating, cooling, and domestic hot water production.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
None.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
Life Sciences Building underwent a retro-commissioning, air re-balancing program last year. The University continues to replace existing fluorescent lighting with LED fixture as part of regular maintenance. We retired a few water-cooled distributed A/C units and connected the loads to the central plant.

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.