| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.01 |
| Liaison | Jen Crothers |
| Submission Date | Aug. 4, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
The University of British Columbia
OP-8: Building Energy Consumption
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.06 / 6.00 |
Orion
Henderson Director, Energy Planning and Innovation Energy and Water Services |
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indicates that no data was submitted for this field
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Total building energy consumption, all sources (transportation fuels excluded):
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Total building energy consumption | 1,812,111 MMBtu | 1,665,997 MMBtu |
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Purchased electricity and steam:
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Grid-purchased electricity | 745,191 MMBtu | 608,137 MMBtu |
| District steam/hot water | 0 MMBtu | 0 MMBtu |
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Gross floor area of building space::
| Performance Year | Baseline Year | |
| Gross floor area | 15,440,970 Gross square feet | 13,648,880 Gross square feet |
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Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year::
| Floor Area | |
| Laboratory space | 1,148,606 Square feet |
| Healthcare space | 183 Square feet |
| Other energy intensive space |
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Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F)::
| Degree days (see help icon above) | |
| Heating degree days | 5,093.30 |
| Cooling degree days | 95.80 |
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Source-site ratios::
| Source-Site Ratio (see help icon above) | |
| Grid-purchased electricity | 2.05 |
| District steam/hot water | 1.20 |
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Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods)::
| Start Date | End Date | |
| Performance Year | April 1, 2013 | March 31, 2014 |
| Baseline Year | April 1, 2007 | March 31, 2008 |
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A brief description of when and why the building energy consumption baseline was adopted:
The building energy consumption baseline (Fiscal Year 2007/08) was adopted to closely align with UBC’s Climate Action Plan, which set the targets to reduce GHG emissions 33% by 2015, 67% by 2020, and 100% by 2050, compared to 2007 levels.
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A brief description of any building temperature standards employed by the institution:
Applicable standards employed by UBC are ASHRAE 55-2010 & ASHRAE 10-2011. Over 100 buildings are networked to the central Building Automation System with the majority of these buildings run on time-of-day schedules with night-time setback of temperature.
UBC seeks to achieve low energy buildings that are optimized to use lower grades of energy, heat recovery and renewable energy sources. Building energy demand is reduced through applying passive design principles, maximizing thermal performance and air tightness of the building envelope, and incorporating efficient active systems.
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A brief description of any light emitting diode (LED) lighting employed by the institution:
The use of LED lamps is encouraged and are specified as substitutes for traditional applications involving CFL, MR-16, PAR 20, PAR 30, PAR 38 lamps. A campus wide lighting retrofit is planned over the next 5 years in which LED lighting will play a large role.
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A brief description of any occupancy and/or vacancy sensors employed by the institution:
Under UBC’s campus-wide Continuous Optimization Building Tune-Up Program, 20 buildings have been extensively retrofitted with a variety of occupancy sensors that reduce or turn off lighting and HVAC systems when not in use. More than 50 buildings are to be retrofitted with sensors over the next 2 years. Most buildings on campus incorporate some level of CO2 and occupancy sensors for the ability to run systems in a reduced mode as well as photocells and motion sensors to reduce lighting use. For example, in the LEED Gold certified Life Sciences Building, motion sensors and light sensors are used to control lighting.
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A brief description of any passive solar heating employed by the institution:
The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability has 9 arrays of rooftop solar collectors that absorb heat from the sun which is transferred to the building’s domestic hot water preheat tank.
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A brief description of any ground-source heat pumps employed by the institution:
A few of UBC’s buildings employ ground-source heat pumps, including the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability and Allard Hall.
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A brief description of any cogeneration technologies employed by the institution:
UBC’s Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility (BRDF) (http://energy.ubc.ca/projects/brdf/) contains an internal combustion engine with dual fuel capabilities (natural gas or clean biomass syngas from gasified wood waste). When biomass syngas is unavailable, UBC uses Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), a classified carbon neutral biofuel, to fuel the engine to provide 2.0MW of electricity, 1.4MW of steam, and 1MW of hot water for UBC’s District Energy System.
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A brief description of any building recommissioning or retrofit program employed by the institution:
UBC’s Continuous Optimization Building Tune-Up Program (http://energy.ubc.ca/projects/energy-conservation/building-tune-ups/) is re-commissioning over 70 buildings and is targeted to reduce emissions in core buildings by 10% combined with behaviour change programs. To date over 150 energy conservation measures in 20 buildings have been implemented, saving UBC 20,000GJ of gas and 2GWh of electrical annually. Another 50 buildings will be recommissioned from 2014-17. Example of measures are chiller optimizations, heat recovery, DDC integration, VSD control of fans and pumps, and use of sensors to reduce lighting and HVAC. UBC is successfully using in-house expertise to perform the detail design, programming, installation, commissioning, and measurement & verification of the program.
Furthermore, UBC has established an in-house building optimization team who continuously identify building controls improvements and retrofit projects throughout the campus. Successes include the optimization of chillers, heating and cooling systems in UBC’s most complex and energy-intensive laboratory buildings. (http://energy.ubc.ca/projects/energy-conservation/)
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A brief description of any energy metering and management systems employed by the institution:
Over 100 buildings are metered using ION 7330 meters for electricity, with water and gas/steam also monitored in the majority of these buildings. Since the campus is served by one main feed for electricity and water, and by a central steam plant and bioenergy plant for heat, there are no revenue meters from utility providers on individual academic or administrative buildings. The digital meters described above were installed several years ago for energy management purposes. Additionally, ancillary buildings such as student housing, athletics and parkades are revenue metered for electricity, gas/steam and water by UBC Utilities.
Over 60 buildings across campus are connected to Pulse Energy's energy management software, which collects, analyzes, and communicates real-time energy intelligence to building operators and management, visible on the public dashboard (https://my.pulseenergy.com/ubc/dashboard). A Monitoring, Targeting and Reporting system is being implemented to act on the information being gathered and presented by the software.
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A brief description of the institution's program to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
UBC has completed over half of the five-year Academic District Energy System (ADES) steam to hot water conversion project, including design of the new Campus Energy Centre, which will replace the campus’ aging steam plant. When complete, the ADES will connect 130 buildings to the more efficient hot water district energy system and will reduce emissions by 22 per cent and result in annualized cost savings and cost avoidance by FY18 of $5.5 million. The steam to hot water conversion will also enable a flexible platform for alternative energy sources and research and demonstration projects (http://energy.ubc.ca/projects/district-energy/).
Other recent equipment replacements with higher efficiency alternatives include a boiler retrofit in UBC’s Centre for Comparative Medicine, cooling equipment replacement in the Earth & Ocean Sciences Building as well as the replacement of several 20 year-old steam absorption chillers with heat recovery chillers (http://energy.ubc.ca/projects/energy-conservation/).
Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) also completed a number of water efficiency upgrades to student residences, as part of their five-year Building Retrofit and Upgrade Schedule.
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A brief description of any energy-efficient landscape design initiatives employed by the institution:
UBC’s LEED Implementation Guide includes several mandatory credits, including credit SSc7.1 – Heat Island Effect: Non-roof, which specifies that reducing the effects of heat island and increasing permeable and landscaped surfaces is a priority for UBC. http://sustain.ubc.ca/sites/sustain.ubc.ca/files/uploads/CampusSustainability/CS_PDFs/GreenBuildings/UBCLEEDImplementationGuideline_20130424.pdf
The Vancouver Campus Plan specifies using more native and edible plants as well as low maintenance and pesticide-free practices. http://planning.ubc.ca/vancouver/planning/policies-plans/land-use-governance-documents/vancouver-campus-plan
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A brief description of any vending machine sensors, lightless machines, or LED-lit machines employed by the institution:
In 2013, UBC Sustainability partnered with a Clean Energy Master student to study energy-saving optimization systems for vending machines and piloted vending misers with occupancy sensors which showed a 40% reduction in energy when compared to a conventional vending machine. Approximately 20% of UBC vending machines are Energy Star rated.
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A brief description of other energy conservation and efficiency initiatives employed by the institution:
In addition to the aforementioned district energy system upgrades and continuous optimization program, UBC has implemented several heating and cooling retrofits as well as preventative maintenance initiatives such as coil cleaning and the use of energy efficient air filters. UBC is also undergoing a campus-wide laboratory energy conservation program which includes fumehood face velocity optimization, ventilation rebalancing, and variable speed exhaust fans. Upcoming projects include a heat recovery chiller, waste heat recovery, enhanced occupancy-based HVAC and lighting control, deep retrofit building audits, and ongoing monitoring of buildings.
Energy conservation by behaviour change is championed through UBC’s signature sustainability engagement programs targeting residences, offices and labs. Key programs include the Aim to Sustain energy and water conservation competition in student residences and the Shut the Sash competition targeting energy conservation in labs. Energy conservation is also a key theme of UBC’s Sustainability Coordinator program, which targets over 80 staff sustainability coordinators across campus through training, toolkits, lunch and learns, and resources.
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The website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
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.