Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.36
Liaison Ben Dharmendra
Submission Date July 30, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Sydney
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.70 / 6.00 Zoe Morrison
Strategy Advisor
Strategy Office
"---" 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 106,255,576 Kilowatt-hours 362,544.03 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 1,058,323 Kilowatt-hours 3,611 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 105,430 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
471,585.02 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
853,684 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 8,134.12 Square meters
Healthcare space 0 Square meters
Other energy intensive space 0 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
869,951.87 Gross square meters

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 617.90 Degree-Days (°C)
Cooling degree days 907.40 Degree-Days (°C)

Total degree days, performance year:
1,525.30 Degree-Days (°C)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period July 1, 2019 June 30, 2020

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

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

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 111,642,169 Kilowatt-hours 380,923.08 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 1,026,072 Kilowatt-hours 3,500.96 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, baseline year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 108,893 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
493,317.04 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
848,662 Gross square meters

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period July 1, 2018 June 30, 2019

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
The baseline was adopted as part of the baselining exercise for targets related to the University of Sydney Sustainability Strategy 2020. 2018/2019 was the most recent year without significant ecological or global health impacts.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
2.50

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.55 MMBtu per square meter 1.19 MMBtu per square meter
Baseline year 0.58 MMBtu per square meter 1.25 MMBtu per square meter

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
5.19

Optional Fields 

Documentation to support the performance year energy consumption figures reported above:
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A brief description of the institution's initiatives to shift individual attitudes and practices in regard to energy efficiency:
The University of Sydney is committed to lowering is non-renewable energy reliance. The University participates in Earth Hour and raises awareness about the need to save energy and turn of lights. Turn of light stickers and posters are displayed throughout the University offices and teaching and common spaces.
Staff were reminded to turn off all devices, including AC units not centrally controlled, that would not be used during the University Christmas shutdown in 2019 and again when the University moved to a work from home basis due to COVID.
Our intranet for staff contains useful, practical information on how to reduce energy needs and how to report issues like lights/AC that won't turn off when needed.
The University's new Sustainability Strategy contains a number of initiatives and behaviour change campaigns to help the staff and student body to cut down on individual energy use. These will roll out in 2021.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
The University has 'Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort Guidelines' which create a standard temperature for the University's various spaces. BMS systems in buildings with centralised management are set to specific summer temperatures - 22oC to 24oC - and winter temperatures - 19oC to 23oC.
The University also has 'out of hours' switches and buttons for teaching and common spaces that engage between 9pm and 7am. The buttons give 2 hours worth of AC and lighting per press.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
The University incorporates electrical design specifications as per its Sustainability Framework for Buildings. This is applied to new builds and major refurbishments of buildings/areas. This includes the requirement for LED lights and out of hour switches. Lighting should also be rated as highly energy efficient.
The University is implementing a multi-year project to convert old, low efficiency lighting to LED lighting and installing motion sensors linked to BMS systems including lighting. This is currently focused on our biggest campus at Camperdown/Darlington but all campuses are included in scope.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
The Sustainability Framework for Buildings - New buildings required passive design report and incorporate passive design features; including building orientation and solar / thermal assessment. Examples of this can be seen in buildings such as the Sydney Law School, where the law library was designed with reflective natural lighting which reduces the energy needed to light and heat the library during daytime hours.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
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A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s energy conservation and efficiency program is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.