The Ice Arena and Stock Pavilion Are the Winning Energy Saving Facilities
CHAMPAIGN, IL – Over the last fiscal year, campus units, colleges, and departments
took extraordinary actions to decrease energy usage while buildings were at reduced service or capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The eight buildings honored in this year’s Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) combined to avoid over $600,000 this year in utility costs through a combination of unique user initiatives and continuing energy conservation improvement projects.
Facilities & Services (F&S) Director of Utilities & Energy Services Rob Roman will recognize the ECIP winners during the Campus Sustainability Celebration hosted by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) on Wednesday, October 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications atrium and auditorium (1205 W. Clark Street). All campus community members are welcome to attend.
F&S Interim Executive Director Dr. Kamarah said, “ECIP has proven that innovative strategies and collaboration are essential to developing meaningful, building-level energy conservation efforts. Achieving carbon neutrality as soon as possible at the university and building resilience to climate change with the local community is going to take everyone working together, and we congratulate all of this year’s recipients on these outstanding achievements.”
The ECIP started eight years ago to encourage and reward energy conservation achievements supporting the Climate Leadership Commitments. Buildings compete in two categories: Occupant Action, which recognizes building users’ efforts, and Energy Advancement, which recognizes facilities that partnered with F&S to complete a large-scale energy conservation project. The awards are based on the percentage of energy reduced from one fiscal year to the next.
|
2021 ECIP AWARDS
|
|
OCCUPANT ACTION CATEGORY
|
Improvement
Percentage
|
Cost Avoidance
|
|
1. Ice Arena
|
54%
|
$124,000
|
|
2. Student Dining and Residential Programs Building
|
45%
|
$225,000
|
|
3. English Building
|
25%
|
$37,000
|
|
4. Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE)
|
25%
|
$73,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
ENERGY ADVANCEMENT CATEGORY
|
Improvement
Percentage
|
Cost Avoidance
|
|
1. Stock Pavilion
|
41%
|
$69,000
|
|
2. Forbes Natural History Building
|
37%
|
$36,000
|
|
3. Levis Faculty Center
|
33%
|
$30,000
|
|
4. Early Child Development Laboratory
|
25%
|
$25,000
|
|
|
|
|
HONORABLE MENTION
|
|
|
|
State Farm Center
|
16%
|
$171,500
|
|
Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building
|
16%
|
$16,370
|
The
Ice Arena led the Occupant Action category after completely shutting down several building systems once Campus Recreation removed the ice surface. The cost avoidance for arena utilities was approximately $124K. Here are additional achievements in that category:
- Student Dining and Residential Programs Building – University Housing completed Retrocommissioning along with a digital controls upgrade with a two-year payback period
- English Building – Primarily shut down facility operations along with repairing and updating windows and HVAC units
- Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE) – Pool and equipment energy loads were substantially reduced due to decreased occupancy
The Stock Pavilion led the Energy Advancement category after College of ACES staff identified equipment for repairs and enhancements. Also, the arena portion of the facility was maintained at a lower winter temperature set point.
Here are more category successes:
- Forbes Natural History Building – An Energy Performance Contracting project provided significant mechanical and temperature control updates
- Levis Faculty Center – A new Retrocommissioning (RCx) project installed variable air volume systems to control airflow better
- Early Child Development Laboratory – The Recommissioning team helped coordinate with facility staff to provide detailed HVAC scheduling and optimization support
The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics will receive honorable mention ECIP certificates for their continued commitment to RCx work in the State Farm Center and Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building. Both buildings reflected a 16 percent reduction in energy usage this past fiscal year and used 10,000 fewer MMBTUs combined. Cost avoidance at the State Farm Center was more than $171,000.
|
Media Contact:
|
Department Contact:
|
|
Steve Breitwieser
|
Paul Foote
|
|
Customer Relations & Communications
Facilities & Services
|
Utilities & Energy Services
Facilities & Services
|
|
sbreit@illinois.edu
|
gfoote2@illinois.edu
|
|
217-300-2155
|
217-244-1048
|
2021 ECIP Award Winners to be Announced at Campus Sustainability Celebration PDF