Honeywell and Merced College kicked off an energy conservation initiative that aims to reduce the school’s annual operating costs by $180,000 through energy-efficient building upgrades.
The program also includes the launch of an enhanced college curriculum focused on teaching conservation strategies that utilize the energy-efficient building upgrades as a real-world case study for classroom learning.
As part of the project, Honeywell will make building infrastructure improvements to 16 campus buildings, including the installation of energy-efficient lighting and upgraded heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Overall, these campus building improvements are expected to trim the college’s electricity use by more than 1.5 million kilowatt-hours annually - enough energy to power nearly 180,000 homes.
Merced College and Honeywell will use the school’s energy usage statistics to develop a course curriculum on sustainability, and raise awareness among students of the positive impact conservation practices contribute to the community. As part of this program, using Honeywell’s Energy Management System (EMS), Sustainability Interns will track resource usage in 16 campus buildings. The interns will develop a newsletter to update students, faculty and staff on the program’s progress and help lead additional campus-wide conservation efforts, such as recycling competitions and car-sharing programs.
Honeywell will complete the building system enhancements and future maintenance under a 15-year, $3.1 million performance contract. This will allow school officials to pay for the upgrades using the cost savings generated, which Honeywell guarantees. As a result, the program won’t increase school budgets or require additional funding.
Honeywell will implement a variety of conservation measures across campus buildings, including:
· Sub-meters in 16 campus buildings to provide facility personnel with a more granular view of energy usage throughout campus from a centralized energy management system
· Updated HVAC systems for the gymnasium, student union, theater and computer services building to improve energy efficiency
· High-efficiency lighting for building exteriors and interiors, including light-emitting diode (LED) lights. BD+C
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
HQ renovations aim for modern look
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ renovations to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New York City headquarters will feature a reworked reception lobby with back-painted glass, silk-screened logos, and a video wall.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 13, 2010
Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library
The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.
| Oct 13, 2010
County building aims for the sun, shade
The 187,032-sf East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, Calif., will be oriented to take advantage of daylighting, with exterior sunshades preventing unwanted heat gain and glare. The building is targeting LEED Silver. Strong horizontal massing helps both buildings better match their low-rise and residential neighbors.
| Oct 12, 2010
Holton Career and Resource Center, Durham, N.C.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. Early in the current decade, violence within the community of Northeast Central Durham, N.C., escalated to the point where school safety officers at Holton Junior High School feared for their own safety. The school eventually closed and the property sat vacant for five years.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 12, 2010
Richmond CenterStage, Richmond, Va.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Bronze Award. The Richmond CenterStage opened in 1928 in the Virginia capital as a grand movie palace named Loew’s Theatre. It was reinvented in 1983 as a performing arts center known as Carpenter Theatre and hobbled along until 2004, when the crumbling venue was mercifully shuttered.
| Oct 12, 2010
University of Toledo, Memorial Field House
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Memorial Field House, once the lovely Collegiate Gothic (ca. 1933) centerpiece (along with neighboring University Hall) of the University of Toledo campus, took its share of abuse after a new athletic arena made it redundant, in 1976. The ultimate insult occurred when the ROTC used it as a paintball venue.