Campus Initiatives: Energy Use

Since FY 05, Elon has increased its square footage over 30%, yet overall the campus’ energy density(Btu per square foot per degree day) has decreased.  Take a look at Elon’s progress chart for energy consumption.

Energy Conservation Efforts

The energy management system’s set back times have been revised, programmable thermostats have been installed, automatic operations of steam heating valves have been added, more efficient ventilation systems have been installed, compact fluorescent bulbs have been installed, T12 bulbs have been replaced with more efficient T8 bulbs, some LED lighting has been installed, more motion sensors have been installed to control lighting loads and older appliances have been replaced as needed with Energy Star qualified units.

Electric Sub-metering

Elon recently completed an electrical sub-metering project, which includes 50 of Elon’s buildings or 78% of its building square footage. This project will allow the Physical Plant to more closely monitor electricity consumption and optimize performance. It is also what allowed Elon to provide real-time energy consumption information through the Building Dashboard.

Engagement & Awareness

The Building Dashboard site serves as a great educational tool to engage the campus community, promote energy conservation and change energy habits. The site allows users to view current and historical energy usage of 50 campus buildings. Energy consumption can also be viewed in more familiar units such as compact fluorescent light bulbs or hamburgers.

Elon’s holds a residential energy competition, POWERless, in the spring to further engage the student body.

Another step taken to promote energy conservation is the creation of Energy Star residence hall rooms containing Energy Star qualified equipment. There are a select number of rooms for which students must apply, and these rooms are shown on Admissions campus tours. 

Definitions:

British Thermal Unit (Btu)
A British Thermal Unit (Btu) is defined at the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure.

Therm
A unit of energy equal to 100,000 Btu's.

Kilowatt hour (kwh)
A unit of energy equal to the work done by a power of 1000 watts operating for one hour.

Heating or Cooling Degree-Day
The number of degree-days for a specific day is calculated as the difference between 65 °F and the average of the high and low temperatures of the day. If the average of the high and low temperatures for a day are greater than 65 °F, then those would be cooling degree days. Conversely, if the average of the high and low temperatures is below 65 °F, the difference would be heating degree days.
For example:
High temperature = 65°F Low temperature = 35°F
Average of high and low temperature = (65 + 35)/2 = 50°F
Heating degree-days = 65°F - 50°F = 15 degree days