Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 31.22
Liaison Morgan Hartman
Submission Date Jan. 23, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
OP-8: Building Energy Consumption

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.15 / 6.00 Kirk Conger
Energy Engineer
Utility & Energy Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total building energy consumption, all sources (transportation fuels excluded):
Performance Year Baseline Year
Total building energy consumption 1,268,330.95 MMBtu 1,341,450.86 MMBtu

Purchased electricity and steam:
Performance Year Baseline Year
Grid-purchased electricity 435,008 MMBtu 349,636 MMBtu
District steam/hot water 418,503 MMBtu 565,558.40 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space::
Performance Year Baseline Year
Gross floor area 9,985,696 Gross square feet 9,035,304 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year::
Floor Area
Laboratory space 1,992,148 Square feet
Healthcare space 47,263 Square feet
Other energy intensive space

Degree days, performance year (base 65 °F)::
Degree days (see help icon above)
Heating degree days 5,368
Cooling degree days 1,455

Source-site ratios::
Source-Site Ratio (see help icon above)
Grid-purchased electricity 3.14
District steam/hot water 1.20

Start and end dates of the performance year and baseline year (or 3-year periods)::
Start Date End Date
Performance Year June 1, 2012 June 30, 2013
Baseline Year June 1, 2005 July 31, 2006

A brief description of when and why the building energy consumption baseline was adopted:
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A brief description of any building temperature standards employed by the institution:

Central building operating system operates in all classroom/office/lab buildings.
Where possible (mostly classroom/office) air handlers are turned off at night and on weekends. Otherwise, room thermostats go to a low-energy mode at night and on weekends. Occupancy sensor reduce HVAC use when room is unoccupied, even during normal scheduled hours of operation.


A brief description of any light emitting diode (LED) lighting employed by the institution:

One parking garage is entirely LED, and one gym was recently converted to high-bay LED.UNL Building Systems Maintenance have begun installing LED retrofits wherever possible in place of incandescent track lighting, HID lamps, and T12 fluorescents.


A brief description of any occupancy and/or vacancy sensors employed by the institution:

Occupancy sensors are used in many areas of public use including restrooms, game rooms and study rooms.


A brief description of any passive solar heating employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any ground-source heat pumps employed by the institution:

The Whittier building's renovation includes a ground source heat pump that provides all the heating and cooling needed for the building. UNL Housing's Robert E Knoll and University Suites are both heated and cooled by a ground source heat pump system.


A brief description of any cogeneration technologies employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any building recommissioning or retrofit program employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any energy metering and management systems employed by the institution:

UNL developed its own Energy Management Controls System about 30 years ago. It is now in its 4th generation with significant upgrades planned in the next few years. It controls central air handlers and hydronic systems in all classroom/office/lab buildings as well as museums and performance spaces, some athletic buildings, the unions, campus recreations, and one residence hall. In most state-funded buildings, control is to the room level (1 room = 1 zone). Depending on the building, it may also control humidity, pressurization, exhaust. Utility use data is collected hourly. There are automatic alarms to indicate conditions out of tolerance.


A brief description of the institution's program to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
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A brief description of any energy-efficient landscape design initiatives employed by the institution:

UNL Landscape Services uses trees to shade buildings from the summer sun and protect them from the winter winds.


A brief description of any vending machine sensors, lightless machines, or LED-lit machines employed by the institution:

UNL has numerous vending machine motion sensors installed in residence halls and other areas to save energy.


A brief description of other energy conservation and efficiency initiatives employed by the institution:

Utility and Energy Management (UEM) employs three full-time energy engineers to actively pursue energy conservation initiatives and to develop and monitor efficient operations of all UNL’s energy using systems. With over 300 heating and cooling systems between the two Lincoln campuses this is necessary to keep everything tuned up for optimum performance at the least cost and lowest carbon footprint.

U&EM has developed a comprehensive Campus Energy Management Master Plan which specifies concrete energy reduction goals and strategies for achieving those goals.


The website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency initiatives is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

For the full list of energy conservation initiatives go to http://bf.unl.edu/ click on the sustainability initiatives document.


For the full list of energy conservation initiatives go to http://bf.unl.edu/ click on the sustainability initiatives document.

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.