Governor’s Award for Excellence in Energy Management

Energy efficiency and renewable energy are top priorities for Governor Gary Locke and the Washington State Legislature. Many outstanding energy projects have occurred in Washington State agencies, community colleges, four year universities/colleges and K-12 schools which deserve recognition. The Governor’s Award for Excellence in Energy Management has been established to recognize truly outstanding projects.

The University of Washington will submit a nomination form for the award highlighting our achievements in the following areas:

• Energy efficiency
• Renewable energy applications
• Energy cost savings
• Maintenance and Operations
• Employee and building occupant participation
• Sustainable or “green” design in new construction

An independent panel of energy experts will review the nominations and recommend those deserving special recognition. The truly outstanding nominees will be invited to Olympia to be recognized by Governor Gary Locke.

Electricity Conservation

Law School Energy Analysis

Seattle City Light provided a rebate to the University of Washington for reimbursement of the cost provided to CDi Engineering to conduct a rebate analysis at the William S. Gates Law School. CDi Engineering has completed that analysis. The analysis determined the energy savings by installing a waterside economizer. The report, based on an ambient server room temperature of 75 degrees, indicates a15 year payback not including design and project management fees. A funding source to install the economizer has been identified.

The current Seattle Energy Code requires that when building spaces are altered or reassigned necessitating upsizing of the building’s cooling equipment, an economizer must be installed to reduce the requirement for mechanical refrigeration.

Solar Array Projects

UW deans and administrators signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Seattle City Light officials for the solar array projects at Merrill Hall and the Mechanical Engineering Building (MEB). SCL has ordered the solar panels for both projects and associated equipment for the installations.

Merrill Hall Solar Array

A roof mounted solar array will be installed at Merrill Hall. This 9.1 kilowatt rooftop array will be located on the south slope of the main roof of the building to provide optimum solar exposure. The array will consist of 32 modules arranged in two horizontal rows of sixteen each mounted flush with the metal roof.

An important component of this demonstration project is to inform and educate the UW/Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) community and visiting public about solar power. The reopening of Merrill Hall allows CUH to expand existing education programs (traditionally horticulture) with green building, resource conservation and solar power offerings. Two quarterly newsletters and advertising in local newspapers gets the word out. Also, messaging at Merrill Hall can be used to reach thousands of people who visit CUH each year for a variety of events. A new interpretive master plan for Merrill Hall will include the following:

• Interpretive signage will be displayed to inform the public about the solar installation and the Seattle Green Power Program.
• Information on solar energy and related sustainability topics will be available from a large brochure rack in the main lobby.
• Computers available for public use will feature a link to the Green Power homepage and the Merrill Hall solar project monitoring site.
• A video monitor will be available to view energy-related videos.
• With the support of SCL, Miller Library staff will produce a book and resource list on solar energy topics.
• Tours showcasing the building (planned after the grand opening in late October and ongoing) will feature the rooftop solar array, easily seen from the McVay Courtyard.
• With some funding, a solar-powered fountain, complete with interpretive panel, would be installed in the Commons.
• In cooperation with Mike Nelson of the Northwest Solar Center, regular education programs will include a series of lectures and workshops on solar electricity for home or business.
• A newsletter article on solar electricity will be produced with technical support from the Northwest Solar Center.

MEB Solar Arrays

Two solar arrays will be installed at MEB. A 1.3 kW rooftop array will be located on the southeast quadrant of the building roof to provide optimum solar exposure with minimal shading from walls or trees. The array will consist of eight modules arranged in two horizontal rows of four each.

A 1.3 kW wall-mounted array will be installed on the south façade of the building and located towards the building’s eastern end to provide optimum solar exposure with minimal shading from exterior walls or trees, according to a plan approved by the UW Design Review Board. The array will consist of eight modules arranged in two rows of four each.

Power produced by both arrays will be conveyed to the building’s electrical system at a point within the mechanical equipment room located on the roof. Data collected from the inverters will be fed to both offsite and UW servers to provide statistical data and other pertinent information accessible from the internet.

An important component of this demonstration project is to inform and educate the UW community and visiting public about solar power.

• Interpretive signage and information will be displayed in the main lobby of the building. Information shall include how students and visitors can learn more about the project, who to contact, and how to learn more about Seattle’s Green Power program and other solar energy projects.
• The roof array will be visible for educational purposes via a web cam located near the array and a flat screen color monitor located in the main lobby.
• The array attached to the building facade provides the best viewpoint for visitors and passersby.

Lighting Retrofits

“The importance of even small energy efficiency measures is significant. For instance, by replacing one incandescent lamp with a fluorescent lamp, production of 3/4 of a ton of carbon dioxide and 15 pounds of sulfur dioxide are avoided over the lifetime of the lamp. This substitution also saves $30 - $50 in energy costs over the lifetime of the lamp.” - USGBC LEED Green Rating System Manuel / Version 2

The lighting retrofit at Fluke Hall has been completed. The next retrofit project will take place in Allen Library. This project is estimated to cost about $126,000 after an anticipated rebate of $64,370. The Allen Library lighting retrofit will save around 478,000 kWh per year equating to over $26,000 annually in avoided electricity costs.

The Facilities Annex Building will be retrofitted to T-8 fluorescents this summer.

Consideration is being given for future lighting retrofits in the Asian Library, the Women’s Addition basketball court and the Gymnastics areas of Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Currently, these locations are illuminated with metal halide fixtures. The preliminary plan is to retrofit these spaces with T-5 fluorescents.

Art Building Occupancy Sensor Pilot Program

The Art Building Occupancy Sensor Pilot Program concluded last winter provided information about various lighting control designs, installation challenges, and product performance. The goals of the program were to evaluate the cost effectiveness of installing various occupancy sensors in an existing building, evaluating various product brands and determining building occupant satisfaction with various lighting control designs. The information learned from the pilot project will be used for consideration of future lighting control projects in existing campus buildings.

LEC Exit Light Upgrades

LEC exit lights have been installed at the Nordstrom Indoor Tennis Facility, Fisheries Teaching/Research, the Pavilion Women’s Addition and Pavilion Pool. LEC stands for Light Emitting Capacitors, a type of electroluminescent first used in military aircraft instrument consoles. LEC light panels use only 1/4 watt of electricity compared to incandescent, fluorescent or LED which ranges between 2.8 to 40 watts in a typical exit sign. Aside from significant energy savings, LEC panels provide perfect uniform illumination and maintenance-free operation.

Delta P Valves

The ongoing Delta P valve pilot project continues to study the potential for future application of Delta P valves within the campus chilled water system. Delta P (differential pressure) valves provide an automatic method of regulating chilled water flow to cooling coils. Data collected during the 2003 cooling season is inconclusive due to delays installing the necessary monitoring devices to accumulate comparative data. There appears to be a wide variation in potential savings that necessitates continued monitoring during the 2004 cooling season.

HVAC Coil Efficiency Study

Gould Hall has been selected for an internal onsite study to determine how significant the effect HVAC heating and cooling coil maintenance has on electrical energy consumption.

A building supply fan motor powers air flow through steam or chilled water coils to deliver conditioned air to the building. These coils are very similar to the radiator in an automobile in that they are subject to accumulating dirt and other contaminants that prohibit optimal air flow through them. Blockage of air flow causes the fan motor to work harder increasing the motor’s electricity consumption.

Manometers, measuring air pressure, have been installed in the Gould HVAC system in preparation for the study. They will be observed before and after the coils have been thoroughly cleaned and treated with a non-toxic chemical to facilitate cleanliness longevity and optimal air flow through the coils. The fan motor will be monitored before and after the cleaning treatment to record electricity consumption.

Although the study may not qualify for SCL incentives, it will provide data for comparing the cost of enhanced coil maintenance and energy saved. Data from the study will be evaluated for future consideration of a more aggressive coil maintenance program.

Water Conservation Projects

Water-free Urinals

Why use water-free urinals? A water-free urinal saves, on average, 40,000 gallons of water every year. Conserving water not only saves money, water saved benefits the environment and the wildlife it supports. Water-free urinals are touch-free and therefore, more hygienic. They have been proven to be odor free when properly maintained. Maintenance required for conventional urinals is eliminated because water-free urinals do not have flush valves that can malfunction. The potential for vandalism and flooding is reduced. Also, US Green Building Council LEED credit points can be earned by installing water-free urinals in newly constructed buildings and renovation projects.

Lander Hall is the test site for the various brands of water-free urinals installed on our campus or under consideration for future installations. Occupancy sensors that trigger counting devices located at test site will provide data useful in analyzing the various fixtures’ performance.

Duravit water-free urinals have been installed in selected locations in Health Sciences to determine the average installation cost per unit prior to consideration of a major retrofit.

Beginning in mid-August, Falcon WaterFree Technologies will have a contractor on campus replacing our Falcon water-free urinals with an improved newly designed model.

Toilet Replacement Program

The toilet replacement program remains on track with approximately 1200 older toilets replaced with water-saving 1.6 gallon-per-flush (gpf) toilets as of the end of June. The program target is to replace 1500 or more toilets with 1.6 gpf units. When concluded, the University should realize a water savings of about 40 million gallons of water annually equating to $370,000 per year in avoided combined water and sewer costs.

Cooling Tower Study

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) in consultation with Ibera Water Efficiency Services has begun the process of evaluating water chemistry in selected campus cooling towers. So far, two site visits have been conducted to collect water samples, familiarize the consultant with cooling tower locations and determine evaluation guidelines.

As the evaluation progresses, the consultant will review the data with shops to facilitate and assist the ongoing development of cooling tower preventive maintenance procedures.

Some early indicators that the consultant is evaluating are:

• The varying degrees of sediment suspended in water samples;
• Comparison of conductivity readings indicated on local controllers with sample test results and;
• If corrosion nodules are evident in the RRT tower sump.

The consultant has been requested to evaluate these conditions, recommend corrective actions and review water chemistry analytical results with the shops to support their ongoing cooling tower maintenance programs.

Bloedel Water Distiller

The project to replace the water distiller located in Bloedel Hall is on hold while building occupant demand for distilled water is clarified. The existing antiquated distiller consumes about five gallons of water per minute. Replacing it is estimated to cost about $30,000. However, by doing so, the University will save $25,000 annually in avoided combined water and sewer costs.