Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.77
Liaison Alex Roman Gonzalez
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Cincinnati
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.43 / 6.00 Daniel Hart
Sustainability Coordinator
Planning + Design + Construction
"---" 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 78,424,615 Kilowatt-hours 267,584.79 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 3,063,267 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
3,330,851.79 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
17,788,065 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 1,418,968 Square feet
Healthcare space 2,982,412 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 142,094 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
26,732,919 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 4,981.60 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 1,323.20 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
6,304.80 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, 2018 June 30, 2019

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
19.76 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 279,537,078 Kilowatt-hours 953,780.51 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 1,466,505 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
2,420,285.51 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
16,582,406 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, 2008 June 30, 2009

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
This year was aligned with the carbon footprint and also represented the year UC started tracking it energy usage and making changes on its campus based on sustainability.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.19 MMBtu per square foot 0.22 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.15 MMBtu per square foot 0.27 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:
18.44

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:
UC runs an annual energy Conservation Challenge in its residence halls; see https://www.newsrecord.org/news/uc-sustainability-to-host-conservation-challenge/article_096bf7d8-44d1-11e9-80d1-2fa529cd68e2.html

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
The University of Cincinnati’s campus is actively controlled by a comprehensive centralized building monitoring system (BMS). This BMS system allows for a sophisticated control of many of the largest pieces of equipment, lighting and HVAC systems operating throughout the campus buildings. Beyond the BMS, the preferred temperature control setpoints for the buildings during occupied periods at the university are 70°F heating and 75°F cooling. The University's staff sets back the temperatures and the airflows wherever possible. UC's unoccupied building temperature setpoints are 65°F heating and 78°F cooling. These unoccupied periods are determined by either an occupancy sensor or time of day schedule.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The University of Cincinnati’s campus is actively controlled by a comprehensive centralized building monitoring system (BMS). This BMS system allows for a sophisticated control of many of the largest pieces of equipment, lighting and HVAC systems operating throughout the campus buildings. Beyond the BMS, the preferred temperature control setpoints for the buildings during occupied periods at the university are 70°F heating and 75°F cooling. The University's staff sets back the temperatures and the airflows wherever possible. UC's unoccupied building temperature setpoints are 65°F heating and 78°F cooling. These unoccupied periods are determined by either an occupancy sensor or time of day schedule.

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

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
UC's central plant is a tri-generation facility, efficiently producing electricity, steam and chilled water. See http://www.uc.edu/af/utilities/production.html

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
See http://www.uc.edu/news/nr.aspx?id=21381

Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:
https://www.uc.edu/af/facilities/energy-conservation-practices.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Note that the figures reported for GSF do not match with PRE4. That's because the energy figures reported above include energy supplied to local area hospitals that are powered by the trigen plant operated by UC. Consequently the GSF of those hospitals (2,876,712 GSF) is also included in the numbers above. Since the hospitals are not included in any other credits in the STARS assessment (other than OP2 and OP5), their GSF is not included in PRE4.

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.