Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 60.64
Liaison Eva Rocke
Submission Date June 30, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Montana
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.33 / 6.00 Sam Gilbertson
graduate student
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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 33,993,079 Kilowatt-hours 115,984.39 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 20,408 Kilowatt-hours 69.63 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 277,294.29 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
393,348.31 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
3,780,036 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 120,092 Square feet
Healthcare space 28,665 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 0 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
4,077,550 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 7,544 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 279 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
7,823 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:
12.33 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 38,675,671 Kilowatt-hours 131,961.39 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 286,906 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
418,867.39 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
3,012,410 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:
UM has consistently been recording and monitoring its energy consumption since 2011 when we hired an energy manager to work alongside our other facilities engineers and track all of our building performance and utilities. The position has been found to pay for itself beyond what we anticipated and our emissions footprint has been reduced as a bonus. There is no specific document or policy that inspired this tracking and record-keeping, but tracking our natural gas and electricity consumption is standard practice now.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.10 MMBtu per square foot 0.17 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.14 MMBtu per square foot 0.23 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:
27.09

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 most impactful strategy that has positively impacted our energy use on campus is the State of Montana-wide policy mandating LEED Silver certification for any new construction or major renovation over $3M. This has meant that all of our construction has been designed and built to a higher standard than in prior years. We also have worked hard over the last 7-8 years to invest more funds each year into energy conservation. Rather than being a campus-wide energy and behavior change campaign, this has been the effort of several budget managers and facilities engineers in the facilities services department.

We have also used our Green Office Program participants to act as energy conservation ambassadors in their areas, though the impacts of their influence are not quantifiable at this time.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
Ambient building temperatures are modulated by a programmable computer system which is set to reduce heating temperatures and raise cooling temperatures during unoccupied hours. UM facilities regularly installs occupancy and vacancy sensors around campus as funding permits.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
LED upgrades have happened piecemeal around campus over the last 7 years. Updating lighting has been at the top of the priority list as rooms, labs, and entire buildings have been renovated. In 2021, 3 buildings are scheduled to receive lighting upgrades.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
Several of our newer buildings utilize ground source heating and cooling systems, including the Davidson Honors College and the Payne Native American Center. More of these geothermal systems continue to be added across campus to save energy and reduce heating and cooling costs to the institution.
UM currently has small-scale rooftop solar on the Todd Building, Fitness & Recreation Center, the Lommasson Building, and Eck Hall. We are working on adding solar to the Mansfield Library roof next year (2022).

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
The co-generation system was implemented in 2005 and is composed of a 440kW steam powered turbine, which runs off waste steam from a natural gas fired boiler system. In fall 2020, UM Facilities Services enlisted the help of McKinstry to design a 2-turbine CHP that will come online in fall 2022.

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:
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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.