| Description |
In the United States, 80% of electricity consumption is by buildingsi. Nationwide, over 7 billion gallons of water is used each day for landscape irrigationii. The University of Utah main campus contains approximately 300 buildings on 1,500 acres of land. There is currently little data available regarding baseline consumption of water and energy on a per-building basis for campus. As concerns over global warming, energy prices, and water shortages become more prevalent, there is a tremendous need for the campus and the community to determine baseline usages and reduce resource consumption. An individual building energy audit, when conducted by a professional, would cost approximately $15,000 for a campus building (Cory Higgins, personal communication). A total budget of $4.5 million would be required to complete professional audits for all University of Utah buildings. Given the constraints of a public university budget, the only way in which University of Utah buildings can be evaluated in a timely manner and on a wide scale is through use of an inexpensive audit tool. An audit tool was created using the Sill Center building as a model. By employing a "trial and error" method at the Sill Center, we were able to determine which aspects of the building most impacted overall resource consumption, and which aspects could be improved in the most cost-effective manner. Based on work at the Sill Center, a "Sustainability Assessment" technique was created to enable groups of interested students, faculty, and staff to conduct audits of various buildings on campus. The Sustainability Assessment enables interested parties to determine a building's resource consumption baseline and to pinpoint areas for potential improvement. |
