How many $5 cups of coffee a student can buy with the amount of electricity Leeward Community College uses weekly appears on a TV screen in the student lounge: only 172.
The display is a reminder of all of the efforts Leeward has taken to cut energy costs after the University of Hawaii Community Colleges signed a contract that would provide a projected savings of $80 million across five campuses over 20 years.
Sandy Maeda, manager for auxiliary and facilities service at Leeward, said she is proud of the significant strides the UH Community Colleges have made to reduce energy consumption.
"For the campus we feel like we are making a big difference," Maeda said. "It’s something we’re really interested about doing here. It’s really exciting."
In 2010 the University of Hawaii Community Colleges signed a 20-year contract with Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, an energy optimization company, to improve energy efficiency at five of its seven campuses.
The UHCCs also entered into a 20-year performance contract with Chevron Energy Solutions for Kauai Community College.
The Honolulu, Kapiolani, Leeward and Maui campuses have entered into power-purchase agreements for renewable energy. The photovoltaic systems at the campuses will generate 2.5 megawatts with an estimated savings of $400,000 annually, said the University of Hawaii.
Through the contract with the consulting firm, the colleges installed energy-efficient lighting, upgraded heating and cooling systems, established a building management system to monitor energy performance and installed photovoltaic systems and solar hot water systems.
LEEWARD
Roughly half of the buildings at Leeward Community College are partially or entirely covered by photovoltaic panels. "We have a dream of covering the Leeward parking lot with panels for carports," said Michael Unebasami, associate vice president for administration at University of Hawaii Community Colleges.
REDUCED ENERGY
18%
From 2008 to 2014 the community colleges involved have reduced energy consumption by 18 percent and saved almost 7,000 megawatts with the new installations — and more energy saving is in the works.
|
The campuses are already seeing the savings, said Michael Unebasami, associate vice president for administration at University of Hawaii Community Colleges.
"We started out looking at ways to become more efficient, and we knew that energy usage was on the rise — the cost of energy usage was on the rise," Unebasami said. "You could say that it is our responsibility to become more efficient not just as a community college, as an educational institution, but as a state department. We are proud of what we are doing. We look forward to continue our efforts to get more efficient."
From 2008 to 2014 the community colleges involved in the contract have reduced energy consumption by 18 percent and have saved almost 7,000 megawatts with the new installations.
On average, 1 megawatt of photovoltaics can power 164 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
In September the photovoltaic system at Leeward Community College went live, said Maeda.
The 692-kilowatt system solar at Leeward is made up of 2,700 panels. Of the total, 420 panels are used on the campus parking lot.
Covering the entire Leeward parking lot is something the university is considering as the UHCCs work with Hawaiian Electric Co.
"We have a dream of covering the Leeward parking lot with panels for carports," said Unebasami.
Since the contract was signed in 2010, the Leeward campus has installed a new lighting system and occupancy sensors throughout the college, added "submeters" in every building on the campus, upgraded the cooling towers and added water conservation measures and irrigation controls.
Outside of the agreement with Johnson Controls, Leeward Community College installed a total of 10 bottle- filling water coolers on campus. The total bottles saved is 250,261.
Leeward will add electric vehicle charging stations, possibly in 2015.
This is just the beginning for Leeward Community College, said Maeda.
"The information we get from submeters will help us look at every building and see where we can cut back on energy, see what options we have and how to track it and get the occupants involved."
