Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.76
Liaison Lindsey MacDonald
Submission Date June 6, 2023

STARS v2.2

Western Washington University
OP-5: Building Energy Efficiency

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.83 / 6.00 Ashley Olson
Data Ambassador
Sustainability Engagement Institute
"---" 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 31,983,890 Kilowatt-hours 109,129.03 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, non-combustion facilities/devices (e.g., renewable energy systems) 7,614.00 Kilowatt-hours 25.98 MMBtu

Stationary fuels and thermal energy, performance year (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Stationary fuels used on-site to generate electricity and/or thermal energy 239,699.14 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, performance year:
348,854.15 MMBtu

Performance year building space

Gross floor area of building space, performance year:
3,542,025 Gross square feet

Floor area of energy intensive space, performance year:
Floor area
Laboratory space 767,271 Square feet
Healthcare space 0 Square feet
Other energy intensive space 0 Square feet

EUI-adjusted floor area, performance year:
5,076,567 Gross square feet

Performance year heating and cooling degree days 

Degree days, performance year:
Degree days
Heating degree days 5,436 Degree-Days (°F)
Cooling degree days 211.80 Degree-Days (°F)

Total degree days, performance year:
5,647.80 Degree-Days (°F)

Performance period

Start and end dates of the performance year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Performance period July 1, 2021 June 30, 2022

Metric used in scoring for Part 1

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

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 34,890,869.26 Kilowatt-hours 119,047.65 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 234,370 MMBtu
Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water 0 MMBtu

Total site energy consumption, baseline year:
353,417.65 MMBtu

Baseline year building space

Gross floor area of building space, baseline year:
3,006,554 Gross square feet

Baseline period

Start and end dates of the baseline year (or 3-year period):
Start date End date
Baseline period Oct. 1, 2012 Sept. 30, 2013

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

Source energy

Source-site ratio for imported electricity:
3

Total energy consumption per unit of floor area:
Site energy Source energy
Performance year 0.10 MMBtu per square foot 0.16 MMBtu per square foot
Baseline year 0.12 MMBtu per square foot 0.20 MMBtu per square foot

Metric used in scoring for Part 2

Percentage reduction in total source energy consumption per unit of floor area from baseline:
18.62

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:
Western is a continuing member of the Commercial Strategic Energy Management program and regularly publishes engagement material regarding the use of energy in our facilities. This includes awareness regarding office shut down procedures, intersession break periods, as well as ongoing reporting requests from our facility operators.

A brief description of energy use standards and controls employed by the institution:
WWU uses electronic timer functions within the computer based Building Automation Control System (BACS). These automated systems have many different industry standard names and acronyms. Also manual bypass occupancy timers are used for some zone control in addition to the BACS controls. All of the major facilities on campus have their Heating, Ventilating & Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems start and stop by these electronic timers. This is time of day scheduling that our Building Automation Control Technicians use to set the operating parameters of the HVAC systems. Additionally most private offices and gathering spaces have occupancy sensors that modulate both HVAC levels and lighting.

A brief description of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and other energy-efficient lighting strategies employed by the institution:
During the pandemic 17 facilities were upgraded to LED lighting in common areas. Additionally all perimeter outdoor lighting was replaced with Dark Sky compliant LED high efficiency fixtures. In January of 2023 the last remaining sports field with traditional high energy lighting was replaced with LED.

The university upgrades all failed lamps to LED upon burn out to ensure that any labor and materials related to operations of our buildings results in long term energy and material savings associated with LED lights.

The university also replaced 253 exterior lights and our practice field lights with dark sky compliant LED fixtures.

A brief description of passive solar heating, geothermal systems, and related strategies employed by the institution:
There are several buildings that employ passive design for heating, ventilation, and lighting. Academic Instruction West is a fully passive ventilated structure with actuated windows controlled through our Building Automation Program. Our Chemistry building utilizes wind tunnel and computer models to disperse the exhaust fumes as efficiently as possible in response to local wind conditions. In addition, our newer buildings utilize thermal walls, natural lighting, and thermal mass to optimize energy use and in two instances are leveraged to be net-zero energy as defined in the ILFI Energy Petal rating system.

A brief description of co-generation employed by the institution:
Cogeneration was evaluated and determined to not be feasible in our plant.

A brief description of the institution's initiatives to replace energy-consuming appliances, equipment, and systems with high efficiency alternatives:
Western is continually working to upgrade our buildings and monitor opportunities for savings. In 2021 we completed ASHRAE level I-II audits with building models at 10 of our target buildings to identify additional opportunities for savings.

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:
Infrastructure improvements are being made currently including initial steps to convert the campus heating system from steam to a more energy efficient hot water
system.

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.