Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 63.89
Liaison Christa Rieck
Submission Date March 3, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Houston
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.81 / 6.00
"---" 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 258,090,954 Kilowatt-hours 880,606.34 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 26,800 Kilowatt-hours 91.44 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 1,100.30 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 2,636 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
884,434.08 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
16,365,114 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 1,714,964 Square feet
Healthcare space 64,972 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 391.64 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
19,925,377.64 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 1,308 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 3,076 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
4,384 Degree-Days (°F)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period Sept. 1, 2020 Aug. 31, 2021

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
10.12 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 219,510,524.63 Kilowatt-hours 748,969.91 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 443,584.81 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 375,935 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
1,568,489.72 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
6,701,000 Gross square feet

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period Jan. 1, 2011 Dec. 31, 2011

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
2011 is when the Energy manager for the university was hired and began capturing accurate energy information for the campus.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.05 MMBtu per square foot 0.16 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.23 MMBtu per square foot 0.46 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:
64.67

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:
UH is presently drafting an Energy Master Plan to determine these practices for coming years.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
As of 2016 all new buildings will be LEED certified Silver as a matter of design standards.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The University of Houston has an active LED transition program. Projects are evaluated on their potential for savings within two years of installing new LEDs. All outdoor lighting has transitioned to LED, the underground tunnel system, and major lecture halls. Further more all new buildings will be LEED certified silver and must comply with related mercury lamp reduction credits.

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:
---

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
---

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 significant difference in "Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water" reported between Baseline Year and Performance Year is due to the deactivation of the University of Houston Medical Center building. This building, being separate from UH's Central Plant, required the importing of steam, hot water, and chilled water while it was operational. Since Hurricane Harvey in 2019 the building sustained significant flood damage necessitating its closure and drop in needed steam, etc. The remaining reported MMBtu are still for this building but in a deactivated capacity.

Additionally, Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy is drastically lowered from previous years due to these coming from generators that are used as part of a peak demand response program (I.E. the generators are turned on to reduce grid strain.). The mmbtu here are results from the generators being run monthly for maintenance and upkeep as opposed to full service.

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.