Sustainable campus improvement program design using energy efficiency and conservation (original) (raw)
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The 30th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, 2012
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Energy Service Companies as a Component of a Comprehensive University Sustainability Strategy
The sustainability deficit observed in modern universities is not necessary to fulfill the education, research, or administrative functions of the university system, because a vast quantity of natural resources are currently wasted. The current waste thus provides a large number of opportunities to improve environmental stewardship while reducing operating costs. Guaranteed energy savings programs (GESPs), which utilize the technical and financial expertise of energy service companies (ESCOs), provide a means to capitalize on these opportunities to move universities towards sustainability. The guaranteed savings from energy conservation measures provide more than sufficient funds to service loan payments each year for the capital needed to make efficiency improvements and generally completely pay for themselves in ten years or less. Energy savings projects are win-win situations, addressing both ecological and economic stewardship. The utilization of ESCOs can accelerate the implementation of energy savings projects and garner institutional support for sustainability initiatives. This paper focuses on the best practices of a comprehensive Environmental Stewardship Strategy that includes a GESP to expand a university’s environmental stewardship. The GESP improved the operational efficiency, decreased the ecological footprint, and reduced the operating costs of the University. The environmental and economic benefits and limitations of this approach will be critically analyzed in the context of sustainability with the goal of providing a model for other universities to improve upon.
Energy Efficiency Initiatives in a Campus Building
Higher Learning Institution (HLI) is a place for academicians, students and its administration staff in a campus. HLI is among the favoured targeted locations to embrace for sustainability and energy conservation solutions due to the campus operations and activities that have significant energy consumption depending on the size of the campus including its buildings and infrastructures. There are several alternatives for which HLI is able to offer huge opportunities in retrofitting initiatives to concern on energy efficiency. This paper presents a study leads to the identification of possible retrofit initiatives and the criteria affecting the retrofitting of M50 building in Faculty of Civil Engineering towards zero energy. A questionnaire survey was distributed to occupants of M50 building in order to identify the preferred energy efficiency technologies to be implemented. The result was analysed with Relative Importance Index (RII) and it shows that solar photovoltaic, green roof and variable air volume were among the most preferable technologies. The relevant criteria for each energy efficiency initiatives being prioritised and ranked based on Factor Analysis (FA). The purpose of using the selected approach and ranking is to investigate the significance of each criteria. The performing result assists as a step for energy efficiency initiatives in a campus building, thus minimizing the energy impact to environment from its operations and activities. The study outcome is also indirectly fulfilling an example case for sustainable teaching, learning and research process. 1. Introduction The university campus is the commercial building type for which the issue of energy efficiency has been the main topic discussed due to the increase of building energy usage annually (Jomoah et al., 2013). The energy efficiency issue should become the main focus on campus because it has high energy consumers, high energy cost, contribute to climate changes and easily affected by the lack of resource of non-renewable energy (Lo, 2013). Campus universities are considered as small towns due to their large number of users, sizes and are involved with complex activities and operations. The wastage of energy tends to occur by various space types such as lecture auditorium, offices, computer rooms and laboratories. The increasing number of population and expansion of the existing campus also contribute to the increase of ecosystem degradation. It has become a major concern, especially for the policy makers and planners in university with regards to the sustainability issue. There are an increasing number of universities that have voluntarily signed the declaration related to environmental protection in order to show their sustainability commitments (Alshuwaikat and Abubakar, 2008). The building's energy usage contributes for about 33 % of the final total energy consumption and become the main source for worldwide CO2 emissions. One of the effective improvements in energy and ensuring for sustainability is through the increase of energy efficiency usage in existing buildings. This could be conducted through the replacement of existing building technology with more energy efficient, which consequently enables for a better reduction in energy expenditure (Tan et al., 2016). The energy efficiency principle is basically to ensure that the energy operations are reduced such as cooling, heating, lighting and other appliances without giving an impact to occupants comfort and health. Improvement of energy efficiency entails not only the environmental benefits, but also economic benefits especially in operational cost savings (Ruparathna et al., 2016).
The Implementation of Sustainable Energy Initiatives in Campus Buildings
Asian Journal of Quality of Life
Sustainable energy initiatives are one of the substantial measures toward achieving environmental sustainability goals and should be adopted by facilities management practices in university. This paper examined the sustainable energy initiatives implemented at three (3) participated universities with the objectives to identify the most current effective initiatives undertaken and to propose future improvement strategies. The perception of six (6) key persons was observed via a semi-structured interview. The most implemented strategies were establishing energy awareness programs, adopting energy-efficient appliances and equipment, managing time schedules, and implementing the prepaid metering system. The study suggested that the firm commitments and participation from all parties in universities are needed towards achieving a sustainable campus. Keywords: Sustainable Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Efficiency; Sustainable Facilities Management 2398-4279 © 2019 The Authors. Publis...
OP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science , 2019
Universities play a significant role in creating a sustainable future and transforming societies. As universities move towards environmental sustainability, a valuable contribution from the higher education sector is expected to accelerate the transformation of our cities. Campus green building initiatives are dramatically changing the way campuses are planned, designed, built and managed. However, prioritizing and evaluating campus green building initiatives seems understudied. The study offers an insight into the advantages of implementing green building initiatives in building operation and maintenance in campuses and provides an excellent proving ground to enhance the performance of campus buildings. A set of frameworks and policy implications in terms of investment decision making, facility management, operational quality control, and planning and design are proposed to improve the effectiveness of green building initiatives at higher education buildings. This study sheds light on performance evaluation of campus buildings, which could be used as a reference for the design, construction and operation of sustainable campus buildings. Energy dashboards, revising the automated operation of buildings, facilitating changes in staff and student behaviours, and operational energy performance certification were identified as important campus-wide energy policies.
Assessing Resources and Dynamic Capabilities to Implement the " Green Campus " Project
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