Authors: Eli Cameron, Khalil Darouichi, Marc Giordano, Evan Kimble
Existing infrastructure on UD's campus is aging, unsustainable and in desperate need of a facelift. The aging lecture halls and dorms on campus are inherently less energy efficient than newer buildings. With limited room in Newark, there is not much space for UD to create new buildings that incorporate more sustainable practices or to build expansive green infrastructure. Most of the building's at UD are here to stay and must be adjusted to compensate for their energy inefficiencies if UD is to reach campus sustainability goals.
University sustainability rankings are prepared by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) which has provided a rating for 344 institutions. All of the comparator peer institutions on the list rank higher than UD. AASHE's STAR report breaks down the sustainability practices of each institution. In UD's STAR report, the school was graded a 0 out of 5 possible points in the "Building Operations and Maintenance" section of the report [2].
While there is no perfect solution to UD's building sustainability problem, there are many opportunities to improve energy efficiency. The implementation of green infrastructure in the spaces that are available on campus and building health monitoring may help reduce energy consumption. Perhaps the best solution is building retrofitting. Implementing newer energy saving practices into older buildings can bring them closer to the energy consumption levels of newer buildings.
Check out UD's Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STAR) Report here: https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/university-of-delaware-de/report/
Retrofitting a building is defined as making changes to the systems or structure of a building after its initial construction and completion. This work can improve the amenities within the building or improve the performance of the building itself. As technology continues to improve, building retrofits can significantly improve energy performance.
Stanford University created their Energy Retrofit Program (ERP) in an effort to target resource reduction on campus. With the initiation of the ERP, Stanford administrators sought to capture utility savings that come from the installation of more efficient technologies and reduced utility budgets.
In 1995, Stanford committed to retrofitting 90 percent of the fluorescent lighting on campus within a 5 year time period. The program sought to install more energy efficient lamps to replace the existing lights and electronic ballasts on campus. These lighting upgrades were installed in academic, residential and administrative buildings. By 1998 the University had completed it's objective, producing energy savings of 9,114,932 kWh/year and an annual cost savings of $764,740.
As seen in this case study, small changes applied on a campus wide scale can have a significant impact on a University's campus.
A Revision of UD's Buildings by Eli Cameron, Khalil Darouichi, Marc Giordano and Evan Kimble is marked with CC0 1.0