Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.90
Liaison Steve Mital
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Oregon
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.64 / 6.00 Cimmeron Gillespie
Education & Analytics Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Electricity use, performance year (report kilowatt-hours):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity 88,474,698 Kilowatt-hours 301,875.67 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 146,102.40 Kilowatt-hours 498.50 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 393,893.40 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
696,267.57 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
8,138,900 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 334,884 Square feet
Healthcare space 14,298 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 334,151 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
9,171,415 Gross square feet

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 5,012.50 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 612.70 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
5,625.20 Degree-Days (°F)

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period July 1, 2017 June 30, 2018

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
13.50 Btu / GSF / Degree-Day (°F)

Electricity use, baseline year (report kWh):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity 88,474,698 Kilowatt-hours 301,875.67 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 146,102.40 Kilowatt-hours 498.50 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 393,893.40 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
696,267.57 MMBtu

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
8,138,900 Gross square feet

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period July 1, 2017 June 30, 2018

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:

2017-2018 is the baseline year at this time. Previous 2004 data was insufficient for this category. The University has established 2010 as a baseline year and numbers will be updated when available.


Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.09 MMBtu per square foot 0.16 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.09 MMBtu per square foot 0.16 MMBtu per square foot

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
0

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 University has strategic goals as part of a climate action plan found here:
https://president.uoregon.edu/university-oregons-updated-climate-action-plan

A focus on energy in particular asks of the institution to consider the following:
"Conduct several studies that will inform decision-making so that we target our energy and resources where they can have the most impact. These studies will investigate: how we will plan long-term to heat campus using low carbon energy sources; internal carbon pricing to explore potential revenue sources that can fund direct emissions reductions on campus; the costs and carbon-reduction impacts of a campus-wide LED retrofit; alternative commute options to lessen the impact of our faculty, staff, and students traveling to and from campus; and the feasibility and impact of a winter break “turn down” and temperature set-point policy to shrink our energy consumption."

A team of Sustainability Ambassadors has been monitoring building energy use, measuring heat and lighting ensuring that building uses are reduced during evening hours. The findings are reported on a weekly basis to building occupants as both data gathering and accountability mechanism encouraging users to make the best choices in energy use reduction.

The SCORE program provides home energy audits and evaluation. This encourages positive behavior actions on the part of recipients. The SCORE program can be found here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/score

Public education also offers all students, faculty, and staff thermometer magnets ('thermagnets' for short) which can be applied to an office refrigerator or to the side of a desktop CPU. These allow the office to see in real time the ambient temperature in the used space and control their thermostat accordingly. This is a very popular tool which allows offices to better prepare themselves to make the choice of energy reduction.

As part of the Green Office Certification, personal heating and energy use are metrics in the point system of the certification process. By asking building occupants to consider their impact and the best methods of achieving personal comfort this impacts personal use decisions in every participating office.

This is a sampling of current projects.


A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:

The University maintains a process of continuous improvement in energy management (found here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/ue_em_semp_fy20.pdf ).

The University uses centralized steam/chilled water to heat and cool campus buildings. The centralized control allows for optimized energy management, see the the Campus Planning Facilities Managements, UO Energy Management Program here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/utilities-energy/energy-management

Buildings on campus use timers to regulate temperature, for example Lillis hall uses a central computer to measure inside and outside light levels and temperature, building occupancy, heating load, and power generation and adjusts controls automatically for maximum efficiency.

"Over the past 5-years Campus Services/Facilities/Utilities has initiated use of strategic energy management planning (SEMP) to achieving significant levels of energy savings. This approach is based on the understanding that SEMP is a successful and well-established practice used by many large educational institutions throughout the country, and has proven to be one of the most successful means of improving management of opportunity risk and cost associated with utility use."- https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/utilities-energy/energy-management


A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:

Campus Planning and Facilities Management implemented a campus-wide LED lighting improvements for safety and efficiency in 2017. See an article about this here: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/brighter-nights-ahead-campus-adds-more-led-lighting

According to the the Oregon Model of Sustainable Development (see point 1 of the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/Policy-Sustainability ), all new construction projects over 10,000 sqft are built to LEED Gold standards. LEDs and efficient lighting design are key elements in energy reduction. Use of LEDs is extremely common in newer buildings however, existing infrastructure continues to maintain fluorescent lighting until renovation or lighting updates can occur.


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

According to the the Oregon Model of Sustainable Development (see point 1 of the Comprehensive Sustainability Plan here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/Policy-Sustainability ), all new construction projects over 10,000 sqft are built to LEED Gold standards.

As mentioned above Lillis uses a central computer measuring building load and usage needs, to automatically adjust blinds and resist needed heating and cooling loads. Many building employ shade shields to allow windows, but reduce afternoon heat accumulation inside buildings. UO is also a registered arboretum and frequently large campus trees are incorporated into the design of buildings to assist with shade and cooling (see the Campus Plan Principle 2, Open Space Framework, here: https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/campus-plan)


A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:

The UO has a district-level cogeneration heating facility. It operates on natural gas and has an efficiency rating of 85%.


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

The Oregon Model for Sustainability requires that new construction pay a fee into a fund that supports retrofit projects on older buildings across campus. The goal is to be net zero energy when new buildings are added.

See the Oregon Model for Sustainable Development here:https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/oregon-model-sustainable-development


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:

See the University of Oregon Strategic energy Management Plan
https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/ue_em_semp_fy20.pdf

The UO has five buildings that generate PV solar electricity: our Facilities Warehouse (10.5KW), the Erb Memorial Union (10KW), the Lillis Business Complex (44KW) and the Student Recreation Center and Outdoor Program Barn (11KW). Additionally one (10KW) wind turbine at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology satellite campus. Using a .2 capacity factor we estimate these systems produce 146,102.4 KWH/year.


See the University of Oregon Strategic energy Management Plan
https://cpfm.uoregon.edu/sites/cpfm2.uoregon.edu/files/ue_em_semp_fy20.pdf

The UO has five buildings that generate PV solar electricity: our Facilities Warehouse (10.5KW), the Erb Memorial Union (10KW), the Lillis Business Complex (44KW) and the Student Recreation Center and Outdoor Program Barn (11KW). Additionally one (10KW) wind turbine at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology satellite campus. Using a .2 capacity factor we estimate these systems produce 146,102.4 KWH/year.

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.