Environmental Sustainability Efforts Yield 28 Percent Drop in Energy Usage and $2 Million Savings at UNC Wilmington
10/15/2009 11:15:54 AM
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Per Senate Bill 668, all North Carolina agencies, including college and universities, are mandated to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by July 2010. The University of North Carolina Wilmington has already reached that goal, dropping its usage by 28 percent over the past 6 years, and 11 percent in fiscal year 2009 alone, through significant conservation and efficiency measures.
"As a university, we've done well in reducing our energy consumption and costs," said Tom Freshwater, physical plant director for UNC Wilmington. "We've cut our energy costs by almost one-third over the past 6 years, which is a significant savings in both energy and dollars."
Freshwater noted that the energy portion of the university's total utility bill for fiscal year 2009 was $6.5 million, so the measures taken to reduce usage have saved more than $2 million in just one year.
Conservation measures that resulted in the significant energy savings at UNCW included:
• Building temperature setbacks at night and during weekends and holidays
• Improvement in heating/air conditioning controls at the Center for Marine Science
• More uniform temperature standard in buildings across campus
• Replacement or upgrades of HVAC equipment and controls in Kenan Auditorium, Dobo Hall, Cameron Hall and Friday Hall on the main campus
• Installation of high Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) heat pumps in residence halls
"Our actual energy bill in fiscal year 2009 was $6.5 million. Without our conservation efforts over the past years, it would have been $9 million," Freshwater explained. "As we took those steps to conserve energy, our consumption per square foot, which is the measure the state uses to track progress, has dropped each year."
Senate Bill 668 requires a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption per square foot by 2015. With the progress that has been made to date, Freshwater said he is confident that UNCW will exceed that target ahead of schedule.
In addition to energy savings, UNCW also reduced its water usage by 14 percent during fiscal year 2009 due to the installation of low flow sink aerators in restrooms and shower nozzles in residence halls, less need for irrigation due to established sod (which was planted and irrigated the previous year) and improvements to the campus irrigation system.
Media contact:
Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.962.7259 or fischettid@uncw.edu
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