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Energy Management Program
Mission
The University of Southern Mississippi is committed to conserving electricity, natural gas, and water usage at its facilities in Hattiesburg and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The goal is to minimize utility usage in order to reduce utility costs and environmental impact without affecting system reliability and comfort. The Energy Management Staff continuously works to identify opportunities for reducing utility usage and to implement new energy efficient ideas when practical.
History
New technology is quite a contrast to what was available 75 years ago when this institution began operation as Mississippi Normal College. There were only five buildings then, scattered throughout the campus. In those days, hot water and heating were provided by steam, which was distributed through underground tunnels to the original buildings. Steam was produced at a central boiler plant, where coal was used as the source of fuel. Air-conditioning was nonexistent, and the buildings were designed so the windows and doors could be opened to provide fresh air ventilation. Imagine this feature today where controlled environments are required. Lighting was provided by simple vacuum type incandescent light bulbs in an ordinary keyless socket suspended from the ceiling by a long cord. The lights were turned on and off by a pull string. Cooking was done on cast iron stoves heated by coal, and ice was the only means of refrigeration.
Energy Growth & Costs
Many improvements have been made over the years and the campus has grown extensively in 75 years. Utility bills have also increased extensively over the years with this progress. In the early years, energy cost, which was less than $10,000 for the entire campus, had risen to $100,000 by 1957. By 1967, total energy cost on campus was $277,000, and by 1977 the cost had increased to $1.3 million. Today this cost has more than doubled in the last 10 years to reach $4.1 million and will continue to increase as utility rates rise and the campus continues to grow. Thanks to progress and energy management measures, these costs will continue to be minimized in the future.
Operating Challenges
In these days of dwindling federal and state financial support, colleges and universities throughout the country are carefully monitoring expenditures to keep operating costs as low as possible. At the same time, however, these institutions of higher learning must maintain an environment appropriate for the many facets of educational services they offer. By their nature, colleges and universities operate multi-building campuses - with each building serving a specific purpose. This means that each building requires diverse mechanical and electrical systems designed to meet its particular needs. The operation of these systems requires enormous energy and maintenance costs therefore offering an excellent opportunity for cost reduction. The university, with an enrollment of approximately 15,000 students, is renowned for its academic and research programs and has more than 180 buildings on campus totaling 3.8 million square feet. Utility costs represent approximately 5 percent of the campus operating budget.
Improvement Measures
At Southern Miss, the Physical Plant Division is inspired to reduce energy costs and energy waste. In an effort to reduce these energy costs and to improve equipment efficiency on its multi-building campus, Southern Miss continues to implement these measures which are improving energy efficiency.
Satellite Chilled-Water/Hot-Water Heating and Cooling Plants
Satellite chilled-water/hot-water heating and cooling plants with automatic control features have been installed at various locations on campus to provide air-conditioning, heating, and humidity control in multiple buildings. One chilled-water plant can provide adequate heating and cooling in five or six buildings rather than individual boilers and chillers in each building.
Lighting System Retrofits
Energy efficient fluorescent lighting and high intensity discharge lighting have been adopted and installed to replace the old, inefficient incandescent lamps, mercury vapor lamps, and fluorescent-type fixtures.
Energy Management Control System (EMCS)
The Energy Management Control System (EMCS) provides energy management and basic temperature control to heating-ventilating and air-conditioning systems. The EMCS is a computerized system which involves a central processing unit (CPU) that communicates with field interface devices (FID) located in each major campus building and which monitors and controls various points and equipment within the building. The EMCS is programmed to perform such functions as time-of-day control, duty cycle control, temperature compensated duty cycle control, demand limit control, optimum start/stop and night setback, temperature reset control, maintenance management control, and data and trend logging for up-to-date facility energy information.
Building Envelope Improvements
Roof insulation and storm windows have been added in various buildings to eliminate excessive solar gain, cold air infiltration, and heat losses.
Utility Extensions for Rate Flexibility
The university has extended its campus energy distribution systems to include more buildings on the master meter to take advantage of the volume rate structure, thus eliminating the need for individual rates and reducing the corresponding utility costs by 30 percent for these buildings. As we continue extending our system to buildings on the campus perimeter, we will create even more energy savings for our university.
Indoor Air Quality
The university is using more efficient air filters and routinely replacing the, not only to improve indoor air quality, but also to conserve operating costs through improved efficiency.
Energy Efficient Motors
New premium energy efficient motors are now being incorporated into new installations and are being used as replacements for older inefficient operating systems.
Power Factor Correction Improvements
Power factor correction capacitors are being installed on all equipment which has motors greater than 3 HP. This improvement has allowed the university to operate at about 92 percent power factor and to avoid power factor correction penalties imposed by the retail supplier of electricity.
Sleep Mode is an Energy Star program that switches the computer to a low-power mode after a designated time. To set Energy Star go to start, settings, control panel, and then click on display. Click the screen save tab and at the bottom is the power settings feature. The recommended time is 15 minutes for monitor, hard disks, and system stand-bye. Click on apply and ok. After 15 minutes the computer will go in to stand bye mode and the monitor will be blank. Click the right mouse button to wake the computer and within seconds it should be ready for use. This will reduce energy consumption 60-70%. Over the year with thousands of computes this is a significant energy savings.
Energy Tips
Saving energy requires a collective effort of Energy Management Staff, campus staff, faculty, and students to prevent energy waste. Everyone’s effort to reduce energy usage by doing the little things day to day adds up to significant savings for the university. The savings allow for money to be allocated for improvement projects on campus and reducing operating costs. Here are some easy things everyone can do to help reduce costs at the USM:
1. Lighting is a significant energy cost and can be reduced by collectively turning off lights when not needed. Reduced lighting also reduces energy required for removing the heat emitted by lighting. When classrooms and offices are not in use please turn out the lights. Only security lighting should remain on after class hours.
2. The number of personal computers have grown tremendously in recent years on campus and worldwide. It is the fastest growing energy user on campus. The average computer can consume 300 watts of electricity per hour either in use or idle with screen saver active. Utilizing the Energy Star Computing (sleep mode) on each computer can significantly reduce consumption when not in use. Sleep mode reduces energy consumption by as much as 70% without affecting reliability of the equipment. Also computers left on at night continue to use this energy unnecessarily. Screen savers do not reduce energy usage. Turning off computers when not in use, at night, and by utilizing sleep mode will collectively impact university energy savings. Savings are not only gained by direct energy usage but also indirectly reducing cooling costs.
3. The large numbers of office equipment on campus waste energy when not in use. These items continue to use almost as much electricity when sitting idle as when being used. Turning off office equipment such as printers, copiers, and computers when not in use is a considerable savings.
4. Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use 65% less energy than typical incandescent bulbs and last as much as 10 times longer. Using 32 watt CFL in place of 100 watt incandescent saves approximately $30 over the life of the bulb. Use compact fluorescent in desk lamps and other compatible light fixtures.
5. Cooling and heating buildings require tremendous amounts of energy and money. Maintaining doors closed to a minimum and windows closed significantly reduces energy required to maintain indoor conditions.
Energy Links
Association of Energy Engineers
National Clearing House for Educational Facilities
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Physical Plant employees and the university community have joined together
to collectively to reduce energy costs through innovative ideas and new
technology. We are continuously striving to improve energy efficiency
yet maintaining a comfortable and safe environment for working, studying,
learning, and research.
