University Science Building

University Science Building saves $1.2 million in annual energy costs while maintaining environmental safety ventilation requirements.

This university Science and Engineering Building (SEB)* is a 130,000 square foot state-of-the-art nanotechnology research facility. It houses class-10, class-100, and class1,000 cleanrooms, offices and classrooms.

* Due to confidentiality agreements, we are not able to provide the client name. We will refer to the building as SEB throughout this case study.

The Challenge

The University has a goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2006 levels, by employing energy conservation measures in its buildings across campus. From its beginnings, SEB was designed with future flexibility in mind. As a result of this flexibility, the building was operating at greater than $35 per square foot for utilities, with significant excess HVAC capacity.

The University wanted to reduce energy consumption at SEB while maintaining safety. This is consistent with the overall campus sustainability vision of improving energy efficiency to provide for a healthier environment for students, staff, and surrounding communities.

Cimetrics’ Solution

Cimetrics was selected to provide its Analytika Pro solution for SEB. Cimetrics collaborated with Siemens, SEB’s building automation system provider, to connect to and collect sensor and actuator data from almost 3,500 physical points. Data was collected continuously, 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year, totaling over 330,000 data samples per day.

The following systems were monitored: 8 air handling units, 18 chilled water and hot water pumps, 4 steam-to-hot-water heat exchangers, 192 terminal units, 25 recirculating air handling units, and 106 fan coil units. Over 1,000 Analytika software algorithms continuously analyzed the data to identify opportunities to reduce energy consumption, improve comfort, and reduce operations and maintenance costs.

Experienced Cimetrics engineers leveraged Analytika software to identify opportunities, determine root cause, and calculate annual savings impact. Actionable recommendations were documented and provided to the client both through online and offline channels. Cimetrics’ role did not end with providing recommendations; Cimetrics engineers engaged with the client team on a regular basis to help answer questions, coordinate implementation, and provide regular feedback on progress.