Energy use and existing buildings: an electricity assessment at California State University, Chico

As state budgets for higher education dwindle, utility costs continue to increase, and climate change continues to become reality, universities across the United States have great opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Conserving energy at universities serves many purposes. It conserves renewable and non-renewable natural resources like coal, natural gas, petroleum and water, and decreases the need for electricity generation. It can also potentially decrease utility budgets, which allows for money to be spent elsewhere, help offset rising tuition costs, or be put back into the campus towards deferred maintenance and capital improvements. Conserving energy can improve either through increasing efficiency in operations and maintenance of existing buildings or by tearing down older inefficient buildings and building new greener buildings. California State University, Chico has implemented both strategies to decrease energy consumption. Chico has retro-commissioned five existing buildings and done many energy efficiency project, and has built four LEED certified buildings. Decreasing energy use on campus is one way to assist with Climate Action Planning and abide by state codes and regulations.\ud Performing an energy assessment, similar to the one in this project, is one way of determining the efficiency of a campus and individual buildings. Compiling energy data for a duration of time, establishing a benchmark or average, and identifying which buildings are performing more efficiently than others provides a basis to establish a plan to make energy improvements towards short and long term sustainability goals. The plan can then be implemented, measured and tracked over time to show improvements. Plus energy retrofits and upgrades can improve air quality and provide more natural lighting, which have been shown to lead to higher productivity to occupants.\ud Each university is different in its physical campus, utility infrastructure, funding mechanisms and sustainability goals. With an energy assessment the university can determine the best strategy for them on a building by building basis.CSU, Chic