Energy savings guaranteed to pay for UA building upgrade
Nov. 27, 2007Contact Information:
Larry Young, UA Facilities Management, 479-575-6601, lwyoung@uark.edu
Noel Neighbor, Poultry Science, 479-575-4952, nneighbo@uark.edu
Karen Eskew, Poultry Science Communications, 479-575-3192, keskew@uark.edu
GETTING GREENER -- The 112,000 square foot John W. Tyson Building at the University of Arkansas is more energy efficient after a $3.5 million project that is guaranteed to pay for itself in energy savings.The Tyson Building is the first on campus to be upgraded under an Energy Savings Performance Contract program, financed by a state bond issue, with the bonds to be paid off from energy cost savings. A contract in the amount of $3,556,260 for the eight-month construction project was awarded to Energy Systems Group, based in Newburg, Ind. The project was to be completed in December.
The 112,000 square foot building, which was dedicated in September 1995, houses the poultry science department, units of the U of A System Division of Agriculture's Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit.
Arkansas Act 1980 of 2005 provides for state revenue bonds to finance Energy Savings Performance Contract construction projects. The contractor is required to deliver “guaranteed energy savings” that will exceed the cost of retiring the bond issue over 20 years, Young said.
“If at the end of the payback period the projected savings fall short, the contractor will actually write us a check for the difference; therefore the anticipated energy savings are guaranteed. I will say, however, we expect that won’t happen; in fact it’s very possible the energy savings will exceed the ESG (Energy Systems Group) guarantee,” Young said.
Young said the building was selected as the first Energy Savings Performance Contract project on campus after an energy audit to determine how much energy and money could be saved by performance contracting.
Other improvements are also being made along with the energy upgrades, said Noel Neighbor, building executive for the Tyson Building. “Our coolers and other systems were also in need of repair. Because of the savings on this project, we were able to get everything taken care of all at once."
Young said some of the major areas of energy savings were as follows.
- All florescent bulbs were changed from a T-12 to T-8 rating, which uses less wattage. During the lighting upgrades, electronic ballasts were installed and motion sensors were added to offices, labs and hallways, so lights not in use would automatically turn off after a set amount of time.
- Fifty-seven fume hoods in laboratories were retrofitted for more efficient use of energy by having a constant, low-flow system.
- Automatic temperature controls were upgraded and linked to the motion sensors in the new lighting systems. “This not only saved a great deal of energy, but it will also make the building more comfortable to its occupants,” said Cary Parks of ESG.
- A 90-ton heat-recovery chiller was installed, which can transfer energy from the heat in condenser water from the cooler system to the heating system for additional energy savings.
"That project really helped us to see that, with good engineering and the use of current technology, amazing energy savings are possible,” said Neighbor. “We now expect significant savings through the work that has been done at the Tyson Building.”