ENERGY STRATEGIES
Innovative Solutions are Critical in University Settings

Today’s volatile and unpredictable global economy, coupled with unprecedented energy challenges, has resulted in critical changes throughout every industry and sector. Against the backdrop of shrinking operating budgets and diminished endowments, universities across the country are reassessing their needs. As university leaders develop strategies to navigate the current economic landscape and position themselves for the long-term, one area that warrants close scrutiny is energy use.

Energy is an enormous part of an educational institution’s budget. Be it a large urban institution or a small university campus – powering it, heating it and cooling it is a major investment of time and resources. Energy efficiency improvements continue to be an effective way for universities to realize both immediate and long-term cost savings. Thus, having an innovative and smart energy management solution is critical. Hand in glove with a smart energy management solution is working with a knowledgeable partner, capable of providing custom, sustainable energy and facility operations and management solutions.

Cogeneration combined with district energy is a terrific one-two punch for large
university campuses committed to improving their overall efficiencies, lowering
their carbon footprints, controlling energy costs, and increasing reliability.

One energy option available to a variety of customers in dozens of metropolitan areas, and also well-suited as a standalone solution dedicated to a university campus, is district energy. A district energy network manages the needs of customers in individual buildings and across a community of buildings, helping to meet the diverse energy demands of a wide variety of occupants. A district energy system includes a central energy plant, or several small ones, connected by distribution pipes to the buildings served. The network delivers hot water or chilled water to the buildings, which is then used for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Once the energy has been extracted, the water is returned to the district energy plant for reprocessing.

By aggregating the needs of many buildings, a district energy system can serve a steady load that can be more efficiently managed. This can be accomplished by utilizing industrial-scale machinery designed for many different fuels and leveraging technologies that may otherwise be cost prohibitive to a single customer. The individual and collective economic and environmental benefits are significant.

District energy has another advantage in that it is the perfect vehicle for a cogeneration plant. Cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power (CHP), is especially efficient because it captures and recycles waste heat used to produce electrical energy. When CHP facilities are combined with a district heating network for distribution of the energy, the waste heat produced from electricity generation can also be used to meet the heating needs of the buildings on the network.

Cogeneration combined with district heating and cooling networks can achieve efficiencies of up to 80 percent, translating into lower carbon dioxide production due to a reduction in the overall volume of fuel burned. This is a substantial improvement over a traditional energy model where each building has an individual boiler, pulls power from the grid, and experiences energy efficiency rates of about 30 percent.

As a result, even when fossil fuels are used to run co-generation plants, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced because less fuel is required. When CHP plants are powered by renewable fuels such as biomass, the positive impact on the environment is even more pronounced. CHP combined with district energy is a terrific one-two punch for large university campuses committed to improving their overall efficiencies, lowering their carbon footprints, controlling energy costs, and increasing reliability. When a CHP plant is fueled by a renewable fuel such as biomass, the environmental benefits are even more pronounced.

CHP can make economic sense, particularly in campus settings, where the university has full responsibility to meet the combined requirements of heating, cooling and power. In many cases, when the CHP system is sized to optimally meet the thermal energy requirements of the campus, it can also produce valuable power and reduce the amount of electricity purchased from the local grid.

Emerson College, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a great example of an urban college campus that has benefited by leveraging its existing district energy infrastructure. Originally established in 1880 as a small, regional school of oratory, Emerson College has since evolved into a multi-faceted institution. Over the past 15 years, the college has relocated the entire Emerson College campus from its historic Back Bay location to its current downtown Boston campus. The college’s reclamation and restoration of a cluster of landmark buildings, adjacent to historic Boston Common and located at the gateway to the city’s bustling Theatre District, has sparked an impressive revitalization in the heart of downtown Boston, helping to transform the neighborhood.

In partnership with its district energy provider, Emerson identified and implemented a suite of energy management strategies for several of its newly renovated buildings. As part of the strategy, Emerson’s energy needs for each project were assessed and opportunities for equipment upgrades and energy efficiency improvements that will deliver longterm cost savings were identified. This approach is being brought to bear on the construction of the Paramount Center, a mixed-use of residential, academic, retail and restaurant establishments scheduled to open in 2009.

The centerpiece of the project is the newly restored, state-of-the-art Paramount Theatre, which originally opened in 1932 as an art deco movie palace. With a wide variety of performing arts spaces, a theatre, studios, classrooms, film screening rooms, and a residential hall, the new Paramount Center has a multitude of heating and cooling needs. Not only is Emerson College’s district energy provider supplying it heating and cooling from its Boston district energy network, but it will also work with the college to keep the diverse spaces of this 200,000 square foot facility at the desired temperature and environment for Emerson’s many uses.

By utilizing a district energy network, Emerson College is avoiding the costs associated with including on- site boilers and chillers in its renovated buildings. It also avoids any maintenance costs or future expenses associated with replacing aging or inefficient equipment. Furthermore, the space that might normally be reserved for on-site heating and cooling equipment can be used for other purposes, which is of particular importance to an urban campus where space is a premium. This allows Emerson to have a greater degree of certainty in their future energy budgets and allows the college to focus on priorities that are closer to its core mission.

In addition to reaping the benefits of district energy and cogeneration, universities can have all of their facility operations and management needs handled for them. Not only can a district energy company manage central plant operations for a college campus, it can leverage its expertise in the management of complex systems to comprehensively operate, maintain and repair equipment throughout a building. On- site personnel manage the equipment to ensure that energy is optimized and potential areas for improvement are evaluated.

Entering into a long-term partnership with a provider who can leverage a full suite of energy and facility operations and management solutions to efficiently address the myriad energy needs of a campus is a winning approach in an era of budget reductions and a need to contribute to greenhouse gas reduction. Working with a district energy company to utilize energy, space, staff and resources most efficiently can serve as the foundation of a comprehensive energy management strategy.

Rowan Sanders is director of marketing and communication at Veolia Energy North America. Veolia Energy is a leader in sustainable energy services and facility operations and management solutions. Mr. Sanders can be reached at: rsanders@veoliaenergyna.com.