During the opening session, panelists pointed out that new buildings, especially those incorporating
laboratories, vivariums and research facilities like UNR’s new Davidson Mathematics and Science
Center, are creating mission-critical energy loads with heating and cooling characteristics that are
different from base campus buildings.
the University of Missouri in Columbia
emphasized how future campus buildings are being designed to achieve at
least the LEED® (Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design) Silver standard and be 30 percent more energy-efficient than ASHRAE 90.1 – whether or
not the institution chooses to proceed
with LEED certification.
In addition, fuel-flexible solutions,
such as landfill gas at UNC-Chapel Hill
and biomass at Mizzou, are being evaluated to help reduce carbon emissions
and provide an alternative fuel source at
competitive pricing with local economic
advantages.
operations; sustainable fuel options;
operations and maintenance; controls,
monitoring and metering; and CHP/
cogeneration. (For more details, see the
proceedings posted at http://tinyurl.
com/2010campus.)
In addition, Steve Spiwak of Nalco
arranged and moderated a panel discussion on dealing with new and emerging emissions regulations for large
boiler facilities. Tim Griffin of RMF
Engineering also provided a comprehensive update on new guidelines for LEED
and district energy, reflecting work he
has done with the U.S. Green Building
Council on behalf of IDEA. Ryan Reid of
UT Austin also contributed to the LEED
discussion based on recent activities
and experience on his campus.
and optimization strategies employed in
Copenhagen, and major construction project case studies.
Also that day, IDEA held a parallel
workshop on district energy for the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Clean Energy Regional Application
Centers (RACs). Drawing more than
80 participants, the session provided
an introduction to district energy and
enabled participant interaction.
John Cuttica and Ted Bronson, program leaders for the DOE RACs, overviewed the mission and capabilities of
the eight RACs. IDEA members, including
leading consulting firms and campus utility operations leaders, presented a series
of discussions on such topics as assessing
thermal energy markets, master planning,
system optimization, risk management,
fuel flexibility, climate action plans, communications and various financing strategies. Going forward, IDEA will continue to
support the RACs in developing district
energy systems and implementing community-scale CHP systems.
Going forward, IDEA will
continue supporting the
DOE’s Clean Energy Regional
Application Centers in
developing district energy and
community-scale CHP systems.
Sustainability practices have
been integrated into university
utility operations and are now
a primary driver of institutional
missions.
Technical Tracks
The technical program, organized
by Conference Technical Chair Tom
Phelps of Stantec, provided detailed
case studies presented over two days
on such topics as master planning and
infrastructure renewal; campus cooling
and thermal storage; mission-critical
Early Workshops
Braving travel disruptions and
delays due to historic blizzards across
the mid-Atlantic region, many IDEA
members still attended the two workshops held prior to the conference.
The Distribution Forum, co-chaired by
Mark Vogler of Citizens Thermal Energy
and Bob Manning of Harvard University,
held a full-day Distribution Workshop
that included in-depth discussions and
presentations on steam systems, public
safety, maintenance and emergency preparedness. Other presentations centered
on maintenance approaches, monitoring
Photo Jerry Newton Photography.
There was a great turnout for the Distribution
Workshop where participants shared their
experiences and insight as they discussed the
operational challenges of safely managing
thermal distribution networks. The Distribution
Forum, which sponsored the workshop, is
developing a new steam safety training protocol.
