Iowa colleges score green with energy-smart conservation efforts

Steps large and small have cut energy use at Iowa colleges and universities and produced savings, sometimes in the millions.

Departments at Iowa State University saved $3 million from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010 by reducing energy consumed - money that goes back to the programs for other uses.

At the University of Northern Iowa, a small $500 fix to a steam trap saved $37,000 in the first year. Multiply that by the 30 or so traps that were subsequently fixed.

At the University of Iowa, burning oat hulls from biomass partner Quaker Oats instead of coal in one boiler cut $4.5 million in fuel costs from 2003 to 2009. UI officials will expand the biomass program to a second boiler soon.

“It's difficult to put a finger on totals, because there are so many efforts and so many variables,” UNI sustainability coordinator Eric O'Brien said, “but we feel very comfortable that it's saving us hundreds of thousands.”

Private colleges also are pushing energy conservation and green practices. Luther College in Decorah wants to reduce the campus carbon footprint by 50 percent and invested $1.5 million in energy-efficiency measures in 2004 - with a seven-year payback, reducing consumption by 20 percent.

Iowa schools aren't alone in the commitment. A 2008 survey showed 65 percent of colleges and universities nationwide had written commitments on sustainability or plans to develop them, compared with 43 percent of schools in 2001, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

It's not easy to point to one number as total cost savings, officials say, because there are diverse efforts across the campuses that fall under the sustainability umbrella and because many factors play a role in energy costs, such as weather, increasing fuel prices and added space when new buildings open.

They say the efforts are making a difference, and it's easier to point to individual victories.

ISU's energy costs are about $33 million a year. Since changing three years ago to a billing model that charges each building for actual energy used, rather than an estimate based on space, ISU has seen reductions of 24 percent in chilled water usage, 12 percent in electricity and 15 percent in steam, said David Miller, director of facilities operations.

“Merely by billing people directly and educating people, we've made a significant reduction in consumption,” he said.

The UI's new Iowa Energy Center is a high-tech nerve center that gathers real-time data on energy use and production across campus, getting information from 100,000 points. It can identify problems, maximize efficiency and incorporates weather forecasts to adjust systems. The $500,000 center, funded mostly through a federal grant, is expected to save that much in energy costs in the first two years. It will radically change energy production and management, officials said.

“Now we have the tool to optimize the entire system,” UI sustainability director Liz Christiansen said. “Before we were optimizing parts of the system.”

All three regent universities in the past year hired sustainability directors to lead initiatives and spearhead education, part of Board of Regents goals to reduce energy consumption and to get 10 percent of combined energy from renewable sources by 2013.

While the UI has had success with biomass energy since 2003, ISU, UNI and Luther are investing in wind power. ISU purchased shares in a nearby wind farm expected to produce about 10 percent of ISU's electricity. Luther's planned 1.5 megawatt turbine, to be done in the spring, should produce one-third of the campus' energy.

Individual metering of campus buildings has made a huge difference, officials at the UI, ISU and UNI report. When faculty and staff see data on how much energy their building uses, and when they see those numbers drop as they turn off lights and unplug equipment, it makes an impact.

Myriad programs involve students: trayless dining that saves food waste, composting food in dining halls and recycling glass, plastic and aluminum in the dorms happen with much success at many schools.

Also popular are year-end donation programs or rummage sales, where students recycle items they might have otherwise junked.

At Luther, low-flow shower heads save 1.2 gallons of water per minute, and 32 campus vending machines were “delamped,” with lights inside removed.

Small efforts like that, across many Iowa campuses, add up, ISU sustainability coordinator Merry Rankin said.

“That's the whole idea of sustainability,” she said.