Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 70.87
Liaison Daimon Eklund
Submission Date Dec. 23, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Washington, Seattle
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.49 / 6.00 Norm Menter
Energy Resource Conservation Manager
Facilities Services
"---" 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 310,853,372 Kilowatt-hours 1,060,631.71 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 232,122 Kilowatt-hours 792 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 1,799,055 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
2,860,478.71 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
2,198,256.48 Gross square meters

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 137,273.75 Square meters
Healthcare space 117,709.22 Square meters
Other energy intensive space 29,449.41 Square meters

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
2,737,671.83 Gross square meters

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 2,546.11 Degree-Days (°C)
Cooling degree days 217.78 Degree-Days (°C)

Total degree days, performance year:
2,763.89 Degree-Days (°C)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period Jan. 1, 2019 Dec. 31, 2019

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

Total site energy consumption per unit of EUI-adjusted floor area per degree day, performance year:
116.68 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 278,504,265 Kilowatt-hours 950,256.55 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 1,684,283 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
2,634,539.55 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
1,282,549.51 Gross square meters

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period Jan. 1, 2005 Dec. 31, 2005

A brief description of when and why the energy consumption baseline was adopted:
The adopted 2005 baseline year is consistent with the greenhouse gas reduction baseline year.

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3.14

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 1.30 MMBtu per square meter 2.33 MMBtu per square meter
Baseline year 2.05 MMBtu per square meter 3.64 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:
35.88

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:
---

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
The UW has gone beyond state requirements and requires all new buildings and major renovations to meet LEED Gold certification standards at minimum, as well as energy efficiency that is 15% more effective than city code, and 50% reduction in potable water use from city code.
See the UW Green Building Standards here: https://green.uw.edu/content/uw-green-buildings


The UW employs building temperature standards as follows:
- For capital projects, the Facilities Services Design Guide (FSDG) provides building temperature guidelines for new construction, renovations and remodel projects. FSDG states design space temperatures in capital projects shall be as established by City and State Energy Codes. Previous Seattle Energy Codes required interior design temperatures to be a maximum of 70F for heating and a minimum of 78F for cooling. FSDG states general use buildings with mechanical cooling will be cooled to 78F unless further restricted by City or State Energy Codes. FSDG requires listing all space heating temperature setpoints that differ from 68F. FSDG states unoccupied spaces shall be heated to minimum 40F for freeze protection. FSDG states hydronic heating system shall be on a reset schedule, normally resetting heating hot water down from 180F to 140F when outside air temperature rises from 20F to 70F. FSDG states reheat coil heating hot water temperature is normally set at 140F. FSDG states night setback temperatures shall not drop below 55F. FSDG states mechanical and electrical rooms shall be ventilated so space temperature does not exceed 90F.
- Operationally, building temperatures are adjusted by each building's own control system. UW's building control systems include direct digital control (DDC) systems by several manufacturers, pneumatic control systems, or standalone controls. DDC systems are remotely monitored from a central server location.

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

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
The UW employs passive solar heating as follows:
- Many campus buildings constructed of brick or concrete have large thermal masses that store thermal energy
- Several buildings have south-facing glass with light shelves that allow direct solar gain in winter
- Molecular Engineering's ceilings and wall cavities are filled with phase change material that increase thermal mass and store thermal energy. Solar chimneys with turbine ventilators naturally ventilate office spaces.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
The UW employs cogeneration by combusting natural gas to produce steam, which produces electricity in a steam turbine generator prior to distribution of steam to the campus for heating.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
The UW employs building recommissioning or retrofits as follows:
- energy engineers auditing buildings recommend system and controls modifications
- HVAC airflow rebalancing has been performed in several buildings, with an ongoing project to rebalance other buildings

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:
Part I values include the contiguous Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell campuses. The Metropolitan Tract, Northwest Hospital and Medical Center and "outlying" properties are not included.

Gross Scope 2 GHG emissions from other sources reported as zero because for the purposes of STARS reporting, we only include contiguous properties that UW owns and manages. Facilities such has Harborview Medical Center and others located throughout the city and may use steam are not owned by UW and thus their GHG emissions are tracked and reported through other agencies or the property owners.

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.