University of Maryland, Baltimore Reaps Energy Conservation Awards

by Beth Leibson 

A series of official agreements, coupled with a long-term commitment to energy conservation, planted the seeds on the greening initiative at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). And now the facilities managers at UMB are reaping the results of their efforts: Energy load across the campus’s 62 buildings has fallen by 20 million kWh in two years. And hopefully, there are more savings to come. 

Row by row 

In 2002, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Transmission Organization (the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) Interconnect, LLC) received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop load management or Demand Response programs.  In 2006, the State of Maryland adopted legislation mandating reduction of energy consumption throughout state buildings, including the public university system, with the goal of cutting energy consumption by 5% in 2009 and 10% by 2010. In addition, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President, with support from the student body, signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, agreeing to set and meet specific goals in pursuit of climate neutrality. 

UMB, founded in 1807, sits in West Baltimore near the Inner Harbor and houses six professional and graduate schools, each with its own administration. For perspective, here are some university facts:

• 61 acres
• 62 buildings
•  Almost five million gross sq.ft. of space.
• More than 6,000 employees work on campus
• Almost 6,000 students study there
• An additional 190,000 patients access services at the School of Medicine annually (amounting to about 630,000 patient visits a year)
• And the School of Dentistry serves 35,000 patients (approximately 122,000 patient visits a year). 

Given its role within the state university system and within the wider sustainability community, “UMB is in a unique position of leadership and influence to serve as a model promoter of progressive ideals in the areas of energy conservation, resource management, and green design,” notes a senior facilities management official at the university.  

Tilling the soil 

This commitment to sustainability has manifested itself in a myriad forms. In new initiatives, the university is enhancing its energy conservation efforts. In the new Campus Center, for example, motion sensors determine when an area is unoccupied and then cut off the lights and reduce air flow automatically, thus contributing to the bottom line without sacrificing function or comfort. 

Another approach involves the use of energy recovery systems to reclaim energy from heated or cooled exhaust air and transfer it back into incoming fresh air. This approach is particularly useful in buildings with research laboratories, which are required to be heated or cooled with 100% outside air—an expensive proposition.  In these spaces, UMB takes the cool 20-degree February air and heats it to 65 degrees. And in July, it takes 90-degree summer air and pre-cools it to around 60-degrees to de-humidify the air.  

UMB also uses a highly sophisticated building automation system to monitor data from about 66,000 points around the campus. Energy and utility managers can access these data points from campus or remote locations and use the data in decision making. This approach allows for real time adjustments and enables facilities managers to support energy and maintenance activities without having to be physically on site.  

Bringing the market to bear 

UMB also has learned to work with the energy market, by bringing peak and off-peak pricing differentials into its electrical equation. “Comverge provides the resources to monitor real-time market pricing, develop load profiles and create customer baselines, to name a few,” says Michael Krone, PE, manager of Utilities Operations. “Comverge’s graphical tools have been invaluable to our success.” 

As a result of this data, UMB curtails energy use during peak hours, when power is at its most expensive, says Krone. UMB produces ice during the off-peak hours and uses that stored cooling capacity during peak hours.  To determine when to curtail load—and when not to—UMB takes advantage of Comverge’s Real-Time Economic Load Response Program and Reliability Pricing Model. Comverge provides UMB with load profiling and IT support as well as consumption analytics/graphics, which aid in decision-making. Comverge offers energy audits to measure potential energy savings, periodic on-site assessments, and metering and system integration and assistance with 24/7 technical and operations support from its Integration & Command Center (ICC) IT Support Group.

"Serving as our curtailment services provider or broker in the PJM Demand Response Programs, Comverge becomes a facilitator for reducing our peak demand and overall consumption, which ultimately contributes to reducing our carbon footprint and emission levels," says Krone.

“Every morning, we review the forecasting email from Comverge,” says Alfred Ruppersberger, Campus Operations and Energy manager. “We then look at how we anticipate power demand throughout the day and adjust accordingly.”  

Demand varies by building and department. “Research runs 24/7. Clinics operate from 7 am to 7 pm. Classes are held until 10 pm. The two libraries on campus are open until midnight on most days. And some of our schools have full Saturday programs,” says Gary Viola, Director of Operations and Maintenance for UMB. “We work with each school to establish their occupied and unoccupied periods and to support their programs,” he adds. “Good communication is a key component to improving energy efficiency while identifying opportunities for conservation.” 

Good communications is equally important in matching energy use to available resources. “The University of Maryland is a great example of what just one campus can do to reduce its energy load and lessen its carbon impact,” says George Hunt, Comverge senior vice president of the Enerwise Group.  

Shifting energy use 

UMB’s facilities department uses various techniques to shift its energy usage.

• It interconnects and groups building-chilled water plants to optimize chilled water production. UMB has a distributed chiller loop system. The system uses three loops, each encompassing several buildings, to make the best use of the energy from the chilled water.
• It uses an existing 20,000-ton-hour/2,000-ton output thermal storage system to shift demand from daytime on-peak hours to night-time off-peak hours, for participation in load management programs, and to hedge against evolving electric rate structures.
• It puts a small portion of the campus chilled water production on a “current limiting” mode for 30-minute periods. To keep the change transparent to users, this fraction of production shifts across production facilities over time.
• It periodically raises HVAC return-air set points for 30 minutes (or less) to reduce cooling demand, an effort that is transparent to occupants because of the buildings’ typical level of 45-minute “thermal inertia.”
• It deploys a Building Automation Network that monitors and controls the individual automation system(s) in each building from a central location.
• It uses energy efficient lighting: T-8s in older buildings, T-5s in newer buildings. “It would be better to use all T-5s,” says Krone, “but there is a high manpower cost to switching to T-5s; it is much faster to switch the existing T-12s to T-8s.” 
• It uses occupancy sensors to regulate lighting and HVAC loads via remote control.
• It limits use of non-essential public area lighting – including corridors, conference rooms, and large meeting rooms—during periods of high demand, controlling this function remotely.

"Our goal is to become a leader in the field of energy conservation with comparable professional, graduate, academic, healthcare, research and public service institutions." says Viola. And given its accomplishments to date, UMB is well on its way.