Wind Energy

In 2001, Penn became a national leader in the use of renewable energy through its agreement to purchase 20 million kilowatt hours of wind-generated power per year for three years. Penn funded the premium cost of wind energy through savings from an aggressive energy-conservation program that reduced peak demand by 18 percent. In September 2002, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection honored the University for its commitment to alternative energy consumption. In 2003, Penn extended its wind power purchase to a 10-year commitment, providing sustained funding that led to the construction of a new 12-turbine wind farm in Pennsylvania.

On April 28, 2008, the University of Pennsylvania increased its use of renewable wind energy by purchasing an additional 80,000 megawatt hours per year, bringing its total annual wind energy purchase to nearly 200,000 megawatt hours, which accounts for 46 percent of Penn’s total energy use. Penn has ranked consistently as one of the nation's top 25 green-power purchasers since the EPA began ranking institutions in 2005.

Conservation

Penn saves more than $5-million annually in energy costs through state-of the-art central monitoring and control of utilities. From its Operations Command Center, Penn engineers can control campus-wide chilled water and steam utilities, and air-handling systems in buildings across the campus. Through sophisticated temperature/time optimization, temperature setback, and demand management techniques, Penn is able to avoid costly peak utility charges and conserve energy year-round.




Campus buildings are fed from a central chilled water loop completed in 2007 after 19 years of planned incremental growth and an investment of over $200 million. Penn's chiller plant freezes water at night when energy costs are low to provide supplemental daytime cooling capacity, reducing Penn's burden on the regional electrical grid and saving money.

To find out more about Penn's energy conservation practices, click here.

TC Chan Center Consultancies

The University has commissioned the School of Design's TC Chan Center to provide both a building-by-building campus energy model, and a comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory. This work, carried out over the past several years, will allow the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services to simulate efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction strategies in design, construction and energy management. The inventory provides a benchmark to measure future conservation efforts.

To see the TC Chan Center website, click here.

Residential Hall Monitoring (Harnwell College House Utility Project)

In the fall of 2007, Penn received funds from the Goldring Family Foundation to begin a pilot program to measure utility consumption in twelve units in its recently renovated Harnwell College House. Students volunteered to download data from sensors and provide these data to the T.C. Chan Center at the School of Design for analysis.

The pilot will run for six months, giving researchers an ample data set from which to draw conclusions about energy usage. There will be House-wide programming to coincide with the pilot and a space on the Internet for students to share tips on how to reduce energy.

To see live data from the Harnwell College House Utility Project, click here.

Light Bulb Exchange

Each fall, the student-run Penn Environmental Group (PEG) partners with the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services (FRES) to offer replacement compact fluorescent bulbs to students for use in their on-campus residences. In 2007, over 1000 incandescent bulbs were replaced by students in their rooms and common spaces, resulting in significant energy savings.

To learn more about previous Light Bulb Exchange events, click here.

Energy Conservation Pilot

In the summer of 2007, Alberto Tecce, Energy Sustainability Intern, studied reducing airflow for laboratories and vivariums., which would potentially reduce the amount of energy used and thereby decrease the cost of laboratory and vivarium ventilation. Aircuity, a manufacturer of integrated sensing and control equipment, proposes an idea that is expected to result in savings along with safety and affordability. The Vernon and Shirley Hill Pavilion and the Lynch Life Sciences Building were used in an energy study to determine whether or not the Aircuity system can effectively be applied in the laboratories and vivariums. Throughout the summer of 2008, a Pilot Project is being implemented in the same buildings. Ventilation data will be recorded and analyzed to calculate energy savings. On-going analysis of the system will then continue for at least one year. This product, if implemented, supported and maintained, has the potential to save several million dollars annually in energy, as well as provide carbon offsets.