FSU BUILDINGS TO GET EVEN ‘GREENER’ AS JOHNSON
CONTROLS CONTRACT RENEWED
Energy-smart facility upgrades are financed with fuel bill savings
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Eight years before Katrina transformed
fuel conservation from a priority to an imperative, Florida
State University was making $8 million in energy-smart
upgrades to
lighting, HVAC systems, windows and more in its 50 top
fuel-consuming buildings.
Since then, FSU’s investment has generated environmental
dividends that have literally paid for themselves – and
then some. That 1997 project with energy management giant
Johnson Controls, Inc. promised to reduce utility bills
$8.5 million
over 10 years.
In less than eight years, FSU is $2 million ahead of schedule.
Now, on the heels of an energy audit that underscores progress
to-date and new opportunities to reduce consumption and costs,
FSU and Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls plan to re-join forces.
They will extend the original 1996 contract for a new round of
facility upgrades and conservation initiatives expected to shave
utility bills an additional $1 million.
Work is slated to begin in October and last roughly 10 months.
“
This has been a win-win partnership if ever there was one,” said
FSU Utilities and Engineering Services Director Alan Peck,
who will manage the campus wide project.
“
Given the exceptional environmental and economic results we’ve
already achieved through our partnership with Johnson Controls,
we’re excited about this next phase. Among other things,
we’ll be installing new technology lighting retrofits
as well as retrofits to campus steam, HVAC and water systems.”
Peck also touted plans for a computerized energy management
system – thousands
of occupancy sensors in empty classrooms will turn off lights
while others turn off idle computer monitors, for instance – while
a campus energy education and awareness program will include
a new Web site with conservation tips and work progress
reports.
As with the first round of energy-smart upgrades in 1997, upcoming
improvements will be financed largely through energy and operational
cost reductions. And once costs of facility upgrades are recouped,
additional savings can be reinvested in academics.
“
Natural and economic resources are scarce and likely to become
more so in the wake of Katrina, even as more students flow into
our university,” said FSU President T.K. Wetherell. “It
is both right and rewarding to make long-term investments
in facility improvements that pay their way, then keep
on paying
to enhance our academic programs.”
Between projects with Johnson Controls, FSU has overseen its
own continuing improvements to existing buildings.
Insulated thermapane replacement windows are replacing
old wooden ones that leak 10 times more air. High-pressure
sodium
lamps
are supplanting incandescent bulbs and using only 30 percent
of the energy. Campus air conditioning chillers are cooled
with readily available groundwater, a unique process that
reduces fuel bills 20 percent. The National High Magnetic
Field Laboratory
has re-scheduled experiments with some of the world’s
most powerful magnets to lower power consumption during
peak usage
periods. Steam system refinements help generate more power
at lower costs.
And for two years, hundreds of lights at Doak Campbell stadium
have been dark at least 12 hours a day. Even the blue light security
system scattered liberally across campus now boasts cheaper-burning
bulbs that reduce their energy demands by 80 percent.
Meanwhile, new construction at FSU is incorporating the
most energy-efficient technology possible to conserve limited
resources for years to come – including the latest
in low-flow fume hoods that use half the air of older models,
to be installed
in hundreds of labs in typically fuel-hungry science and
College of Medicine facilities rising across the campus.
“
FSU is in this for the long haul,” said Peck. “In
an uncertain world, investing to become a greener campus
is just plain smart.”
For more information on FSU’s energy management partner,
Johnson Controls, Inc., visit the company’s Web site at
www.johnsoncontrols.com <http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/> .
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For more stories about FSU, visit our news site at ww.fsu.com.
--
Rachel Christofel
Information Specialist
Media Relations Office
Florida State University
114 Westcott Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1430
TEL: (850) 644-4030
FAX: (850) 644-9643
