While the energy crisis of 2000-2001 is long since over, its impact on energy prices continues to negatively affect UCLA's cost of operations. Energy prices, particularly for natural gas, the primary fuel for the campus cogeneration facility, have remained high since the year 2000. A recent weakening in the natural gas market brought some minor and relative relief - prices have declined from five times their levels in the 1990's to only three times their 1990's levels. To address high fuel prices Facilities Management and the campus community are seeking to reduce campus energy consumption.

To address the problem in as broad a manner as possible, Facilities Management, at the request of Chancellor Carnesale, formed an advisory group of professors, administrative deans, financial experts and engineers to look at UCLA's energy use. The group developed a series of energy initiatives endorsed by Chancellor Carnesale and implemented by Facilities Management and the campus. The foremost of these initiatives has been the closure of the campus during the Winter Break period. The closure saved $200,000 during fiscal year 2003-2004, the first year of its implementation. Savings of approximately $250,000 were achieved during each of the succeeding two years. A second program outlined by the advisory group was implemented in summer 2005. This program reduced the amount of air conditioning in selected campus buildings on summer Sundays, holidays and three-day weekends. The program contributed $200,000 in energy savings in 2005 and similar results are anticipated in 2006.

A number of other energy programs and initiatives are continuing. A multi-year program is in process to replace the campus's outdated building Central Control System with state of the art digital building management controls. The system, already in place in new campus buildings and being extended in older campus buildings, allows more precise regulation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, improving occupants comfort while reducing energy consumption. The system also collects consumption data, alarms off-normal conditions and facilitates the adjustments necessary to implement the winter closure and the summer setbacks.

The Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system has been providing the campus with roughly $600,000 in annual savings since it was placed in operation in May 2003. The main feature of the system is a 5,000,000 gallon tank that serves as the foundation for the recently opened LaKretz Hall. LaKretz is the campus's first U.S. Green Buildings Council LEED certified building and the home of UCLA's Institute of the Environment. The TES system allows the campus to make and store excess chilled water at night when energy prices are low and then use the stored cooling to air condition the campus during the day when energy prices are higher.

Operation of the TES system and the campus air conditioning system is being enhanced by construction of a new air conditioning water chiller facility near Boelter Hall and the CNSI project. Once the location of an older and less inefficient chilled water facility using CFC refrigerants, the new facility has 25% larger capacity, much more energy efficient machines and does not use CFCs (In fact, the main air conditioning system that serves nearly the entire campus is now free of CFCs). In addition to adding sorely needed capacity to the campus air conditioning system, the new chilled water facility will increase the efficiency and capacity of the TES, contributing further energy savings. The new system will be in full operation in July of 2006.

The campus has also found savings recovering and reusing clean water that would have otherwise been lost. Condensate from air conditioning systems, seal water from vacuum pumps and other laboratory equipment, and water from other non-contaminated sources has been collected and used in campus cooling towers for many years. In addition to decreasing the amount of water imported into southern California, use of recovered water reduces the campus water expense by nearly $100,000 annually. The recovered water program has recently been expanded to incorporate capturing the water being removed from under the foundation of the new Ronald Reagan Hospital. The hospital foundation extends into the ground water plume requiring constant dewatering. Rather than being lost to the storm drain system, this water is now recovered and also used in the campus cooling towers, saving an additional $250,000 per year in water expenses.

The Regents recently adopted a sustainable building and renewable energy policy for the UC system. The Regents called for all buildings and major retrofits starting in FY 2004-05 and after to meet the equivalent of the LEED rating system "certified level". They also called for increased use of green power (energy generated from renewable or waste sources) and increased campus based renewable energy production (something that UCLA already excels at with the use of refuse-derived gas as fuel in the cogeneration facility. UCLA will assume a leadership role with program as new buildings and retrofit projects are developed.

The cogeneration facility central chilled water distribution system was extended to buildings on the north campus. Perloff, Royce, Campbell and Haines are now being cooled by the central facility. Fowler, Public Policy, Bunche, Macgowan, Melnitz, Young Research Library and GSEIS will be added to the central system later this year while Men's Gym (Student Activity Center), Kaufman (Dance) and Broad (Dickson/Wight) will be placed on the system as their renovation projects are completed. The chilled water generators now serving those buildings will be placed in stand-by condition, ready to operate if their capacity is needed.

The campus is continuing its lighting retrofit program, replacing older fluorescent lights with more efficient lights and changing incandescent lights to compact fluorescent bulbs. Nearly all of the lights in campus buildings have been replaced with energy efficient ones in the past six years. To date, over 112,000 energy efficient bulbs and 3,600 low energy exit signs have been installed. Campus annual energy consumption has been reduced by an estimated 7.5 million kilowatt-hours as a result of the program.

Energy Conservation Tips

Set fume hood sashes to minimum when not in active use. Do not store materials in fume hoods. Close fume hood sashes completely when empty and not being used. Fume hoods are a significant consumer of energy on campus. Keep windows and doors closed in air-conditioned buildings. Open windows and doors upset the air balance of air conditioning systems, increasing the energy consumption and possibly making others served by the system less comfortable.

Lucky enough to sit near a window? Turn off your local lighting and use natural light instead.

Want to be an energy sleuth? Help us find and eliminate wasted energy by reporting leaking faucets, bad thermostats and incandescent lights that could be replaced with fluorescent lights. Send us an email to ConserveEnergy@facnet.ucla.edu and we will respond.

New Energy Program

We have a limited number of occupancy sensors available for installation where they will save the most energy. Do you know of a location that is used infrequently but where the lights are frequently left on? A storeroom, a little utilized conference room, perhaps the office of someone who is not often on campus? Let us know at ConserveEnergy@facnet.ucla.edu. If it looks like a good site, we will install an occupancy sensor to turn the lights off when the room is not occupied.