Energy Projects
Energy Assessments of Campus Rooms
A student intern will conduct assessments of classrooms, offices, hallways, etc to try and highlight recommendations for conserving energy. The student will conduct interviews with faculty and staff working in spaces to develop patterns for energy use and recommend cost saving tips.
The project will assess the types of light bulbs used, etc to determine how much energy can be saved by installing more energy efficient lights, occupancy sensors, etc.
What are CMU’s Emissions by Energy Source?
The use of non-transportation energy—electricity, or in heating and cooling—are primary environmental impacts, representing a major share of air pollution, smog, acid rain, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Carnegie Mellon consumed, in FY03, about 90,000,000 kWh of electricity, 350,000 Mlbs of steam, and 45,000 Mcf of natural gas. This equates to about 700,000,000,000 Btus of thermal energy derived from fossil fuels. Burning of these fossil fuels is what impacts the environment.
The student intern will research emission factors from our energy suppliers (and other sources) to determine the source emissions (CO2, SO2, NOx, etc.) based on current energy consumption of the university. The 2001 research paper, “From Kyoto to Carnegie Mellon, How Far Can We GO” may be used as a guide to get started.
University (Electricity) Challenge Student Champion(s)
In 2001, Carnegie Mellon purchased 5% of its electricity from a wind power farm in Western PA. This renewable wind energy comes at a premium cost to the university, approximately $80k annually. The University Challenge is an ongoing contest/challenge to defray this energy supply premium by conserving energy on campus housing. Conservation may include, turning off lights when not in use, lowering thermostats in winter a couple of degrees, ensuring windows are closed, reporting maintenance problems with energy systems, replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, enabling sleep mode on personal computers, etc. Incentives for this conservation will be established. With support from the university engineer, the campus environmental coordinator, and volunteers throughout the different housing areas, the student intern is expected to provide the enthusiasm, leadership, and coordination of this activity.
Residence Dorm Room Energy Consumption
When energy is expressed in Btus (British Thermal Units) or kWh it is hard to visualize what and how we are consuming energy.
The student intern will conduct an inventory of all energies consumed (electricity, heating and cooling) in several residence hall rooms and then average them to provide insight into energy use of a typical campus residence room. Results will be provided in spreadsheet and graphical format. Calculation of fossil fuel equivalent to maintain this typical room, annual fuel costs, and pollution emissions are part of the survey. Suggestions of energy conservation opportunities and their impact is to be included. This report will be used for communications efforts of energy awareness and conservation to the campus community.
Laboratory Fume Hood Energy Savings
The university has some 300-400 laboratory ventilation fume hoods in research spaces throughout campus. These fume hoods are of varying ages and technologies, and operate sometimes 24 hours per day. Newer hood technologies and more efficient operations could significantly reduce energy consumption of these devices.
The student intern will learn about newer fume hood technologies and efficient operating techniques. Then, determine an energy consumption baseline for existing systems. The next step is to perform an economic study of costs to upgrade these fume hoods to newer technologies and benefits associated with the energy reduction of these newer systems. The cost-benefit analysis will be used to propose a fume hood replacement capital project.
Green Practices Energy Web-site Design
A new and challenging website addition to the existing Green Practices website is to be developed. This is to be a wide-ranging site including both live energy data and consumption history, and much more. Contact university engineer for more information.
Convection Heating versus Radiant Heating
Inadequate or uneven distribution of conditioned air often causes thermal discomfort in office spaces. As a result portable electric convection space heaters are purchased and located under or adjacent to work desks. These type heaters heat the individual experiencing the discomfort as well as the space around them. Newer technology electric radiant heat panels provide sufficient heat and comfort for the individual but does not heat the surrounding space. Radiant heat panels consume about one-tenth the electrical energy as their convection technology brothers.
The student intern will investigate energy savings opportunities by replacing existing, individual convection space heaters with newer, under-desk radiant heating technology, including a marketing plan for replacement.
For more information or to participate, contact: Marty Altschul
ma3q@andrew.cmu.edu
