University of New Hampshire
OP-4: Building Operations and Maintenance

Our building operations and maintenance program takes an integrated approach that seeks to continually assess and address building occupant health (e.g., indoor air quality), resource use (energy, water, materials), site management (grounds and stormwater), and access by non-vehicle transportation. Different aspects of the program are spearheaded by different Facilities Teams which are brought together in the annual assessment and management plans for each building.

- The Office of Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS), in collaboration with the Sustainability Institute and UNH Facilities, developed an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Management Plan to assist Facilities in providing UNH faculty, staff, students, guests, and visitors indoor environments which are free of airborne contaminants. The IAQ Management Plan is a proactive program where building occupants participate through education and outreach to identify potential sources of pollutants and implement corrective actions to eliminate them. Through a concerted effort by building stakeholders, Facilities Operations, Campus Energy and OEHS, this proactive plan is designed to educate and inform the community about addressing IAQ concerns in the workplace.

- UNH uses a building automation systems to help optimize operations.
We submeter every building for its consumption of electricity, natural gas, domestic cold water, hot water heat, steam heat, and chilled water cooling. We capture heat and cooling meters through our central energy management system. The 600 meters are manually read each month, and assessed for issues and action items to be included in each building management plan. A radio metering system captures the readings in real-time and displays them to the public. This system features Andover controls (TAC) that allow the UNH energy office to monitor and adjust building energy systems based on automatic occupancy sensors, classroom scheduling, and other devices that trigger the equipment to turn off or ramp down in energy use to minimize consumption. All core campus buildings are tied to our energy management system, which increases and decreases temperatures based on occupancy and time schedules. Typical spaces are heated from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. as a maximum M-F and off on weekends. We also use sensors to turn off space heating in some areas. For classrooms, we use the schedule from the registrar’s office to also shut down spaces when unused. If someone is in the space when the system is off, they have an override button that will give them 2 hours of heat. For areas not on the core campus, we employ programmable thermostats which mimic the normal hours for the space. Facilities does regular surveys regarding opportunities and needs for optimizing temperature control, the results of which are utilized in each integrated building management plan. In addition, light sensors are used in over 75% of campus buildings, ranging from occupancy sensors in office, bathrooms, classrooms to daylighting controls that reduce light output based on incoming natural light through windows.

- UNH’s building management program includes strategies and timelines for ensuring that waste stations are upgraded to include UNH’s new standard for recycling/compost/waste bins and signage, that these are checked periodically to ensure they continue to be available and up to date, and that relevant housekeeping staff members are trained on how best to support UNH’s recycling and waste diversion efforts.

- In terms of waste and toxics minimization, UNH procurement policies and guidelines mandating the use of the most efficient, environmentally friendly products and services (e.g. products that are certified as Energy STAR, WaterSense, ECOLOGO, Green Seal certified, etc.) guide the University’s approach to building management and the annual assessments and buildign plan updates include this element.

- Each integrated building management plan includes strategies for minimizing pollution (e.g. through best practices in dealing with snow and ice, pests and weeds, and in stormwater management) and to maximize and encourage access by active and public transportation; e.g. through provision and maintenance of bike racks, pedestrian-friendly pathways, implementation of “NextBus” and other efforts to incentivize and support the use of public transportation.