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Strategic Energy Management

Reducing Energy Consumption on Campus: Physical Plant

July 17, 2020

The physical plant participates in a Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program to track the gas and electricity usage in ten selected buildings across campus. Physical plant personnel meet with a team from Energy Trust of Oregon monthly to discuss reasons for any increases or decreases in savings, then strategize maintenance solutions to minimize energy usage. As the University meets planned milestones we also earn financial incentives to reinvest in energy efficiency projects, which has allowed us to complete projects such as large-scale upgrades to LED lighting and replacing older pieces of equipment with newer and more efficient ones.   

The buildings that have been enrolled in this program since 2015 were chosen because they presented the greatest opportunities for increased savings and efficiency, and to represent different types of campus facilities. The enrolled buildings are: Buckley Center, Chiles Center, Clark Library, Corrado Hall, Franz Hall, Haggerty Hall, Kenna Hall, Mago Hunt, Swindells, and Tyson Hall. In 2019, the physical plant reduced electricity usage across those ten buildings by 134,093 kWh and gas usage by 3,197 Therms.  

Are you curious about what the energy impact of closing our campus this spring due to COVID precautions looks like? Here is some data for electricity at the Chiles Center, one of the biggest energy users on campus, across the first five months of 2019 and 2020. You can see the overall reduction in usage due to strategic maintenance management in January and February, then the rapid decrease following the closure of campus. 

Filed Under: 07-20-2020, Campus Services Tagged With: physical plant, Strategic Energy Management

UP Hosting Strategic Energy Management Cohort Workshop, November 16

November 4, 2016

solar-copyThe University of Portland will host the final Strategic Energy Management (SEM) workshop, “Report Out & Celebration,” on Wednesday, November 16. UP has been participating in a two-year SEM cohort sponsored by the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO), according to physical plant director André Hutchinson. Other participants in the cohort, which focuses on organizations with large, complex campuses, such as the Hillsboro School District and Oregon Health & Science University, will be on campus for this closing event. The UP project has been spearheaded by the Energy Team of Hutchinson, Sandy Galati, and Dirk Theisen, physical plant; Eric Barger, controller; Michelle Sunderland, information services; and Beth Sorensen, marketing and communications.

The goal of the SEM cohort is to support the University as both a responsible steward of energy resources and of financial resources. An energy policy for the campus is currently being developed which will incorporate many of the energy conservation and performance improvement strategies that have come out of the SEM project.

For more information contact Hutchinson at x7306 0r hutchina@up.edu.

Filed Under: 11-07-2016, Campus Services, Physical Plant Tagged With: Andre Hutchinson, Beth Sorensen, Dirk Theisen, Eric Barger, Michelle Sunderland, physical plant, Sandy Galati, Strategic Energy Management

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UPbeat is a newsletter for University of Portland faculty and staff published through the marketing & communications office; submit information to Marc Covert, upbeat editor, at 8132 or upbeat@up.edu. Submission deadline is noon the Thursday prior to publication. Submissions may be edited for clarity, consistency, brevity, or style.

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