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 The amount of energy a UC Davis building uses depends on: 

 

• How the Building is Used
• - Building type: laboratory, classroom, office spaces
  - Plug load use
  - When the building is occupied, 24/7 vs. 9am-5pm
  - Specialty equipment, e.g., lasers, MRI machines, etc.
• How the Building is Made
• - The age of the building
  - The type of construction
  - The insulation of the building
  - Window type and shading

• Heating & Cooling Factors
• - Mechanical system type and vintage
  - Recent upgrades and maintenance on mechanical equipment
  - Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)
  - Schedules matching occupancy
  - The sophistication of the temperature control system
• Other Factors
• - Outside air temperature

 

Let's explore some of these factors in a little more detail. 

 

    01. Building Types

• Buildings can be used for a variety of functions: administrative offices, faculty offices, classrooms, laboratories for research and classes, food services, conference rooms, study areas and on and on. 
• We’ve grouped these uses into five categories that we call classrooms, laboratories, housing, community, and offices. Each building type has a unique energy profile. ​

 

 

 

Compared to other building types, a lab's energy use is high because they require high ventilation rates and are often operating 24/7. 

• The silver lining is that a lab's energy-saving potential is greater than in other buildings.
• Achieving 10% savings in a lab will yield more energy and money saved than 10% savings in an office. 
• The Energy & Engineering team focuses on lab buildings because of their energy-saving potential.

 

 

Check out all of the different building types on the Campus Energy Education Dashboard (CEED)

On the Campus Energy Education Dashboard, you can see the energy use per square foot of campus buildings. Buildings using the most energy per square foot are those that have laboratory spaces.

 

 

02. Outside Air Temperature

No matter what type of building you look at, you'll see that chilled water is highest when it’s warmer outside, and that steam is highest when it's colder outside. 

• This is because more steam is required to heat the buildings during the colder months of the year.
• Inversely, during the summer, you'll see chilled water reach its peak usage because the buildings need that precious cooling power.

 

 

 

 

 

03. Types of HVAC Equipment

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning(HVAC) equipment and the systems that control this equipment are constantly evolving.

• The hardware installed today is very different from what was industry standard 10, 20, or even 50 years ago. Over the years there has been a lot of advancement in hardware for data collection, processing capabilities, and remote controlling. 

 

04. Building Age

Building age is a factor associated with HVAC equipment.

• Older buildings often have older HVAC systems, which have less visibility and less remote control options. 
• These older systems don’t have the hardware to support temperature setbacks or occupancy-based reduced airflow. 
• This limitation often means less data is available and therefore, engineers have fewer opportunities to implement energy efficiency measures in these buildings.

 

Energy-Saving Projects

Energy-saving projects in campus buildings including running the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems when people are in the buildings and turning them down or off when buildings are unoccupied. Engineers create HVAC schedules to match  building occupancy, this eliminates energy waste.