CAIRO: In the past six months, The American University in Cairo (AUC) has used 20.4 percent less energy in kilowatt hours (KWH) University-wide, compared to the same six-month period a year earlier, with an eye toward reducing overall energy use by one third in three years. This substantial improvement already has and will continue to reduce the University's reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to global warming, as well as save significant sums of money from the multimillion-dollar energy budget. It also satisfies student demands from the fall protests for a more energy-efficient campus. “Most universities hope to reduce energy consumption by 15 – 30 percent over a number of years,” said Marc Rauch, sustainability coordinator in the recently created Office of Sustainability. “In the past six months, we have already saved 20 percent. It is incredible progress.” The Energy and Resource Conservation and Efficiency Project began last spring with the support of Brian MacDougall, vice president for planning and administration, and Mohamed Abdel Aziz, maintenance operations coordinator in the Office of Facilities and Operations. Together, they hired Wael Taha, a sustainability engineer with expertise in building systems, and created a sustainability working group led by Rauch. Other key participants include Ashraf Salloum, University architect, and Mahmoud El Gamal, an AUC electrical engineer based at the central utility plant on the New Cairo campus. The working group began last September by analyzing the causes of AUC's energy consumption in the fiscal year 2011, which ended on August 31. The equivalent of more than 50 million KWH was used in burning natural gas to create the chilled and hot water that are essential for providing air conditioning and heating on campus. One KWH is the amount of energy needed to run one 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours. A comparable amount of electrical energy was consumed in the fiscal year 2011, with 42 million KWH in AUC New Cairo (half of which was used to distribute chilled and hot water around the campus; the other half for lighting and equipment) and 10 million KWH in AUC Tahrir Square and the Zamalek Dormitory. Taking into account natural gas used in other operations, total energy consumption for the fiscal year 2011 was more than 105 million KWH. “Adding together natural gas and electricity use, we found that 70 percent of our energy consumption in the fiscal year 2011 was attributable to HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning),” said Rauch. “To reduce this, we tried to use our common sense. Don't overheat space, don't overcool space, and don't heat or cool space at all when no one is using it. Admittedly, this is sometimes not as easy as it sounds, but just getting these few simple things right will save enormous amounts of energy.” One of the first things the working group did was to “retro-commission” all the major building systems on campus. This means making sure these systems were installed and are functioning properly, and are being operated in accordance with manufacturers' instructions for achieving peak energy efficiency. “It's just like taking good care of your car,” Rauch explained. “If you don't take it in for a major tune-up every so often, you will never get the best possible gas mileage.” Another early step the working group took was to end the use of cooling and heating after hours and on weekends, breaks and holidays. The group also shifted from running all four major air-conditioning machines all winter just to cool a few temperature-regulated laboratories to using only one of the machines. In order to conserve energy used for cooling and heating, they installed automatic door closers in all ground-floor classrooms and many ground-floormeeting spaces. “We often seemed to be trying to air condition the desert,” Rauch said. “That had to stop.” The group is also working to ensure that large indoor spaces on campus only receive cooling or heating when absolutely necessary. “The Malak Gabr Arts Theater, a huge space, was being air conditioned and heated throughout the year, even though it is not in active use much of the time,” said Rauch. “We will now have a schedule from the Department of Performing and Visual Arts that allows us to deliver temperature-control services only when they are actually needed. The same holds true for spaces like Bassily Auditorium and Moataz Al Alfi Hall.” The working group is confident it will be able to maintain the 20 percent energy savings achieved so far during the remaining six months of the fiscal year 2012, with the potential to save even more energy by fine tuning the delivery of airconditioning during the summer months. In fiscal year 2013, the project's goal is to reduce energy consumption by another 10 percent compared to the fiscal year 2012, followed by a further 5 percent reduction in the fiscal year 2014. “Over three years our goal is to reduce total university energy consumption by one third from fiscal year 2011 levels, or by 35 million KWH,” Rauch said. “To give you a bit of perspective, 35 million KWH is enough to light 350 million 100 watt light bulbs for an hour. That's one light bulb for every person in the United States and Canada combined, and that's a lot of energy.” In the near future, the sustainability working group wants to optimize temperature settings for additional spaces on campus, make better use of outside air for heating and cooling, implement computerized timing for lighting to save electricity, and consolidate classroom operations during winter and summer sessions to stop heating and cooling empty classrooms. Looking ahead, Rauch sees an active energy-saving role for every AUCian. “We have been able to accomplish a lot so far behind the scenes,” he said, “but to achieve the full one-third energy savings that is ourultimate goal, we will need the help of every faculty member, student and staff member on campus.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/r7VbQ Tags: American, Cairo, Slash Energy, University, Use Section: Egypt, Latest News
