Center for Sustainability

Conservation Efforts: SUU Facilities Management is proud to announce we're achieving new lows AND we're aiming even lower!

Join the team to help hit new lows in the workplace and at home:

• Let us know if the air conditioner or heater is not working properly to cool or heat your area, and
  report any leaks or irrigation problems – to conserve water.
• Turn off lights, SUU approved space heaters, fans, computers, printers and the copier when you
  leave for any length of time.
• Use natural light whenever possible and dress appropriately for the season to reduce the use of fans or SUU approved space heaters.
• Walk when you can, carpool to meetings, or combine trips to the store – to conserve fuel, reduce
  the amount of harmful emissions, and save money.
• Conserve energy at home by using solar lights whenever possible or by using energy efficient light bulbs (compact fluorescents).
• Unplug electronic devices which draw power even when not in use.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification:

In 2009, the State of Utah required that all new public buildings be certified at the level of LEED Silver (roughly 20% more energy efficient than the minimum building code). SUU went one step further . . .

The Center for Health and Molecular Sciences at Southern Utah University recently received LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, affirming its excellence in energy efficiency, sustainability and environmental quality. The building was carefully designed to include a host of ecoconscious features such as low-flow water systems, innovative LED lighting systems with auto shut-off sensors, metal shades and a green roof layered with soil and plants to minimize solar impact. Before the outer layer of brick was applied to the exterior, the entire structure was wrapped with an 'air barrier' membrane, which minimizes air infiltration, keeping the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Current lows include:

Water Usage: Utah is the second driest state in the nation with one of the highest rates of water consumption. SUU Facilities Management has:

• Replaced natural turf in the football stadium with synthetic turf, saving an average of 500,000 gallons of water annually
• Installed 42 waterless urinals on the SUU campus, saving 40,000 gallons of fresh water annually on each urinal
• Planted areas of xeriscape and drought tolerant plants to lower the use of irrigation water
• Utilized the Maxi-com irrigation system to water only when necessary, lowering usage of irrigation water whenever it rains
• Required for new construction that designers select water-efficient fixtures and appliances, including low-flow faucets and shower heads, waterless or ultra-low flow urinals, censored flushometer toilets, etc.

Fuel Consumption:

Utah Clean Cities Program is always looking at more ways to use less SUU Facilities Management has:

* Employees from all shops combining trips for parts and supplies to reduce fuel consumption.
* Implemented Video Conference meetings to eliminate trips between Cedar City and Salt Lake City to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Harmful emissions:

Utah has a goal for 80% Emission Reductions by 2050; the White House has a goal of 17% reduction of emissions over the next decade

SUU Facilities Management does the following:

• Preventive Maintenance Program – Mechanical equipment in the buildings is most energy efficient when running in the way it was designed and built to operate. SUU's Utility Services division performs routinely scheduled preventive maintenance inspections, cleaning, and tune-ups to keep mechanical equipment running at peak efficiency.
• Refrigerant recovery/ reclaiming program – recovers and recycles 100% of the refrigerant used on campus, reducing our impact on the ozone layer.
• New Construction Indoor air quality management - contractors ensure that Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), dust, oils, and odors have been contained and removed before occupancy.
• Heat Plant conversion to #2 oil for emergency back up - reduces all aspects of emissions from the Heat Plant, including opacity, sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, and volatile organic compounds.
• Annual Heat Plant emission report-Illustrates outstanding air quality compliance for the last five (5) years running.
• Only use of Ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel on campus –significantly reduces sulfur dioxide emissions on campus
• Carpet Tile – use a water-based formula glue with minimal VOCs.
• Plant an average of 50 trees each year - One tree can filter up to 60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year.
• Building Materials – Contractors use local building materials and products to support local economy and reduce the environmental impacts from transportation.

Landscape, construction, paper and other waste materials:

Recycling Coalition of Utah is constantly working to reduce solid waste in Utah

SUU Facilities Management does the following:

• Plastic Water Bottle Elimination – Installed six (6) bottle filling stations for refilling reusable drinking containers in order to eliminate bottled water waste and to reduce emissions from the transport of bottled water.
• Metals recycling- recycles several hundred pounds per year of copper, brass, steel, aluminum, and stainless, keeping them out of the landfills
• Utilizing Micro-fiber Technologies – Currently using rags, dust mops and wet mop system with micro-fiber that can be cleaned and reused, reducing the amount that goes to landfills
• Recycled paper – We purchase paper products (toilet paper and paper towels) from Kimberly- Clark professional who uses a minimum of 40% post consumer waste content for paper towel and minimum of 45% post consumer waste content for toilet paper. Both products are manufactured with elemental chlorine-free (ECF) bleaching.
• Carpet Tile – use carpet tile that is recyclable and wastes very little because of the layout.
• Entrance Mats – Implemented entrance matting systems that reduce soil being brought into the buildings, reducing the need for carpet replacement.
• Tire Recycling – when Motor Pool receives new tires, the old ones are hauled to Salt Lake City where they are ground up and used for road surfaces and rubberized running tracks in schools and colleges.
• Vehicle Battery Recycling – when Motor Pool replaces batteries, the old batteries get shipped back to the factory and 100% of them get recycled.
• Pallet Recycling – Pallets are picked up from Receiving and refurbished and re-used.
• Landscape Waste
• Re-use pruned tree limbs as mulch/wood chips
• Mowing grass clippings are mulched to become organic material for turf
• Construction Waste - Contractors ensure that construction waste, demolition, and land clearing waste are recycled, composted, and salvaged.
• Facilities Management Administration Building Recycling – We recycle office and other scrap paper and constantly work to reduce the number of hard copies made.

Harmful chemicals:

DEQ's mission is to safeguard human health and quality of life by protecting and enhancing the environment.

SUU Facilities Management does the following:

• Uses "Green Seal" certified chemicals – Converted to the Spartan product line which is both effective and cost competitive, reducing the use of harmful chemicals for custodial use.
• New Construction, for indoor air quality, designers select adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, carpet, and composite woods with low-emitting materials.

Kilowatt Hours:

The State of Utah has a goal to increase energy efficiency 20% by 2015. SUU has contributed to that goal . . .

SUU Facilities Management's Renewable Energy Projects and Conservation Projects:

• Photovoltaic Solar Array installation at new Facilities Management Administration Building – Installation of a 4kW photovoltaic net metering system, produces power and relieves the campus electrical load (10,752 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, enough to offset the production of 14,407 lbs. of CO2 that would otherwise be released to the atmosphere and is the equivalent of electrical power used by 3.07 homes in a year).
• Photovoltaic Solar Array installation at Facilities Management Shops- Installation of 90 kilowatts of photovoltaic solar arrays, producing an estimated 241,920 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to run 69.12 average homes and offset the production of over 331,430 pounds of CO2 per year.
  Recommissioning projects – Sharwan Smith, Student Center, Centrum- a fine point effort to restore building operating systems for increased energy efficiency.
• Heat Plant Lighting Replacement – Installed twenty-four 90 watt high bay LED light fixtures that replaced an equal number of 320 watt metal halide fixtures.
• CFL Purchase to eliminate incandescent lights on campus - Purchased 500 compact fluorescent lamps for installation in the Hunter Conference Center and the Library as a step toward our goal of eliminating incandescent lights on campus, purchased as part of a program supplemented by Rocky Mountain Power.
• Campus lighting standards developed- for indoor and outdoor fixtures, addresses energy efficiency and errant night sky light pollution
  Steam powered condensate pumps – located in Multi Purpose, Sharwan Smith, Science, Library, Emma Eccles Education Building, and in the Heat Plant. Uses the pressure of existing live steam to move condensate back to the Heat Plant in the steam distribution system, in lieu of electrical powered pumps.
• Energy Savings - Student hired to turn off the numerous lights left on across campus overnight - working between 8 pm and midnight. Calculated savings thus far average $1,721 per month.
• Building scheduling- daily scheduling efforts to minimize operation times of large building mechanical systems
• Extensive lighting retrofits – High efficiency lighting products installed in the Administration, Sharwan Smith, Student Center, Science, Centrum, Coliseum, Business, Technology, Multipurpose, Centurium, Library, Facilities Management Shops, and ELC, Music, and Randall Jones Theatre.
• Sharwan Smith Retrofit – Replaced 20 metal halide lamps (100 watts each) with CFLs that use 26 watts per lamp for energy savings and reduced maintenance and re-strike time.
• LED Lighting Upgrades: Several locations across campus have been fitted with 20 watt LED wall-pack fixtures that replace 150 Watt metal halide fixtures. In addition to energy savings, the amount of glare from errant light is greatly reduced with these new full cutoff fixtures. Retrofitted areas include the Technology Building, Sharwan Smith Building, Centrum, Facilities Management, Multipurpose Center, General Classroom, Auditorium, Randall Jones Theatre, Campus statue lighting, PE Parking Lot, and the Heat Plant.
• Utility tracking via sub-meter reading- Helps utility management by allowing individual buildings to be metered.
• Smart panel lighting controls and Honeywell light scheduling- allows for precise lighting control of lights inside and outside of buildings, year round.
• NEMA premium efficiency motors- Established as a University standard to reduce electrical consumption and minimize utility demand charges due to low power factor.
• Variable Frequency Drives- allows variable speed operation of electric motors to significantly reduce their power consumption.
• Reduced steam pressure operation in Heat Plant- saves energy by not having to maintain pressures that are above what is required for campus distribution.
• Lighting controls on tennis courts – reduce run time with automatic timers that limit per time use and hours per day use, saving an average of 84 kWh per day of use.
• Pipe insulation repair and replacement – The repair and replacement of insulation on steam, hot water, and chilled water lines saves thousands of BTU's per year.
• Multi-Purpose Dance Lab lighting retrofit- replacement of misapplied lighting fixtures to reduce power consumption and improve light quality.
• Student Center Chiller replacement – New chiller replacing old chiller that was failing. New machine will save 27,217kWh/year, a monetary savings of $926 per year.
• 236 Walkway light retrofit – replace 175 watt metal halide lamp and ballast with 42 Watt compact fluorescent lamp - will result in an estimated annual savings of over $3,100.
• Concourse up-lighting has been turned off in the Centrum arena in order to utilize daylight from the upper windows.
• Hunter Conference Center and Harris Center lighting - all of the exterior down lights have been replaced with low wattage compact fluorescents, cutting the overall consumption from 100 watts per lamp to 13 watts per lamp.
• Electrical Shop Lighting - Testing some samples of ultra-low wattage LED lights in Facilities Management electrical shop - replacing a 75 watt spot light with a 6 watt LED light, getting the same amount of light in the affected area.
• Randall Jones Theater Compact Fluorescent Replacements - 25 highly consumptive and maintenance intensive MR 16 lamps have been replaced with compact fluorescents at the Randall Jones Theater.
• Water heater insulation jackets have been purchased and installed on most water heaters on campus, reducing the loss of radiant heat from the heaters and reducing energy usage.
• Lighting retrofit of area lighting in the CAD lab and in the Wood lab in the Engineering and Technology building complete.
• Lighting retrofit in PE building replaced sixteen (16) 150 watt metal halide lamps with 27 watt CFL
• Lighting retrofit in Science – Elimination of eighteen (18) 150 watt incandescent lamps and replacement of four (4) more lamps with 13 watt CFL's.
• Library – Elimination of twelve (12) MR-16 high output lamps and replacement of twelve (12) 100 watt incandescent lamps with 13 watt CFL's.
• Centurium – replacement of twenty (20) 100 watt incandescent lamps with seven (7) watt LED lamps
• Centrum – insulation installed on 8" steam pressure reducing station and related piping to reduce errant heat loss.
• Roofing – use roofing materials that are light in color and reflective, reducing the solar gain.
• Mountain Center - Insulation and venting has increased energy efficiency. Have installed a new roof using these methods, which has yielded a 44% decrease in propane consumption.
• Re-caulking windows – helps reduce energy waste.
• Weather-stripping Installation – placed on thresholds to better seal doors on many buildings, including: Randall Jones Theatre, Bennion Building, Harris Center, and Music Building to reduce energy waste.
• Space Heater Exchange - Purchase energy efficient and safety approved space heaters to replace those currently being used on campus.
• Heat Island Effect - To reduce "heat island" effect, we use natural shade on parking lots and landscaping areas, and a "green roof" of soil and plants on the Frehner Museum of Natural History.

We're proud of the lows we've achieved. We're saving money AND essential resources!