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Building Recommissioning Program
All heating/cooling systems and controls in campus buildings are evaluated to identify opportunities for efficiency improvement. This activity is part of the Xcel Energy Building Recommissioning Program. Examples of identified efficiency opportunities include Direct Digital Controls (DDC) to replace pneumatic controls and control strategy improvement.
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Building Schedules
Energy Management has created schedules for most of the heating/cooling systems on campus. The systems are digitally programmed to shut off when buildings are unoccupied.
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Chicago Climate Exchange
In December 2004 the University of Minnesota joined the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), a voluntary, legally binding multisector market for reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions. The university is the fourth educational institution and the largest public research university to join CCX. The action places the university in a small but growing group of organizations committed to the development of a rules-based North American greenhouse gas emission reduction program, and involves the Energy Management division of Facilities Management, the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), the College of Biological Sciences , and many scholars from across our campus.
The Chicago Climate Exchange is a pilot program for reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions in the United States , Canada and Mexico . Members with direct emissions have agreed to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by four percent below the average of their 1998-2001 baselines by 2006, the last year of the pilot program. Members that make further reductions can be compensated by selling reduction credits to members for whom a four percent reduction would be technically or economically difficult. Greenhouse gases covered by the agreement are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
For more on CCX go to www.chicagoclimatex.com
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Energy Assets Program
New construction and major building remodel projects participate in Xcel Energy’s Energy Assets Program. This program models a building and its mechanical systems and identifies energy efficiency opportunities that are beyond the project scope.
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Green Lights
The University has an ongoing green lights program to change out older, less efficient lighting as buildings are remodeled at all campuses and facilities. Switching from 40-watt lamps to 32-watt lamps and using more efficient fluorescent fixtures saves energy. Other energy-saving lighting strategies have been evaluated for use on a site-by-site basis.
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Oat Hulls
The University is investigating the technical, financial and regulatory considerations of using biomass fuel, specifically, oat hulls, at its Minneapolis campus heating plant. Emissions pilot testing completed at the University during the summer of 2003 demonstrated that oat hulls burn cleaner than coal. Oat hulls are a renewable energy source that does not contribute to the net carbon dioxide production from carbon based fuels such as natural gas. While the University’s current boiler configuration requires that oat hulls be mixed with and burned together with coal, a goal of the oat hull project is to determine whether or not oat hulls could be burned in combination with natural gas or by themselves. Planning is underway to formalize a partnership with General Mills, producer of Cheerios™, and to receive the necessary permits to make this new biomass alternative a regular part of the University’s energy program.
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Renewable Energy Project at Morris
Please see this topic under “Research, Teaching, and Outreach.”
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Steam Plant
By utilizing our Steam Plant, located on the Mississippi River near campus, the University has a flexible and cost-efficient energy source. In recent years, while many district energy systems and campuses have reallocated millions of dollars to pay for fuel, the University has experienced relatively stable fuel costs. Updates to the steam plant allow the University to burn a fuel mix which is at least 70 percent natural gas, rather than the traditional mostly coal fuel mix, and which allows for biomass burning (see “Oat Hulls,” above).
http://www.umn.edu/urelate/steamplant/Facts92.html
http://www.umn.edu/urelate/steamplant/Brochure92.html
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St. Paul Central Chiller Plant
Historic preservation and energy efficiency are at the heart of a major construction project on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. In 2004 and 2005, the University will rehabilitate an historic building at 1518 Cleveland in St. Paul as a new Chiller Plant. The project will upgrade and improve the reliability of the chilled water supply system to many campus buildings. With funding from the Minnesota State Legislature, the Chiller Plant will replace aging, unreliable, and inefficient chillers across the St. Paul campus, and will result in:
- Annual, ongoing cost savings for the University of Minnesota,
- Increased energy efficiency, and
- Increased reliability in the chilling systems in St. Paul.
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UMM Biomass Gasification System
An initiative is now underway to establish a biomass gasification system on the University of Minnesota – Morris campus that will focus on using corn stoves as the primary fuel source to provide up to 75 percent of the heat and cooling loads for the campus from alternative energy. This will be a greenhouse gas neutral energy source that will use the local biomass instead of fossil fuels. It is intended to reduce the use of natural gas and fuel oil as the campus energy source.
This is a state of the art gasification system that will be used to conduct research on the emissions, and production of syngas, from a biomass fuel source. The biomass/energy cogeneration facility is included in the campus's bonding request to the 2005 Minnesota Legislature.
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UMM Wind Energy Program
Otter Tail Power Company, which provides electrical services in Morris, Minnesota, has a wind energy program that allows customers to purchase electrical energy for an additional charge. University of Minnesota – Morris (UMM) and its students participate in this program. After looking at how wind energy might be used to benefit the student body, an agreement was reached to designate the Morris campus Student Center as a green energy powered building since that was a building that was used by all students on campus.
To cover the additional $15,000 required to power the building with wind energy, campus administrators challenged the students to conserve the equivalent amount of money in other resource conservation programs. The students agreed to an extensive water conservation program which reduced the amount of water used on campus, encouraged the campus fleet operations to purchase hybrid vehicles for campus transportation needs, changed from a paper-based campus newsletter to an electronic format, and worked to increase the amount of material recycled through the campus recycling program. These efforts were essentially successful, and saved the equivalent amount of dollars that were being spent on wind energy. It became a cost neutral program for students and for the university. As part of a new UMM wind energy initiative, wind energy will be purchased from the WCROC and sent to the UMM via a dedicated line. In addition to being a unique research platform for hybrid wind systems, the wind turbine will provide approximately 60 percent of the UMM campus’s energy needs.
On April 22, 2005, the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) officially commissioned its 1.65 MW Vestas wind turbine. It was an exciting day for the University, the region, and the state. The wind turbine is a very visible cornerstone for continued development of the U of MN Renewable Energy Research and Demonstration Center at Morris. The wind turbine directly provides electricity for the U of MN Morris and also is used for wind to hydrogen research and for developing hybrid renewable energy systems that can produce on-demand electricity.
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WALDO - Wall, Window & Door Management Program
WALDO is a computerized wall, window, and door management program developed to meet the requirements of the University of Minnesota. The engineering services for this program are provided by Inspec, Inc. It is the first program of its kind to use database information to analyze the condition of walls, windows, and doors. It helps the University proactively manage the exteriors of 180 buildings by identifying wall and door repairs and determining window repair and replacement projects and priorities. WALDO uses uniform assessments through a guide developed to help inspectors identify defects and their severity. Along with making these buildings more energy efficient, this program will save hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of these buildings. In 1998, the University of Minnesota was awarded the Grand Award for Engineering Excellence for the WALDO Program by the Consulting Engineers Council of Minnesota.
INSPEC, Inc.: http://www.inspec.com
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Waste Abatement Committee
The Waste Abatement Committee, made up of members from many key departments, coordinates and monitors pollution prevention projects at the University of Minnesota. The committee communicates information to new employees through orientation programs and to existing employees through in-house vendor trade shows sponsored by the Purchasing Department. The committee is working towards a P2/Resource Conservation Web page which will promote and provide instruction and information about self-audits and other P2/Resource Conservation techniques.
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