Best Practice Case Studies
- UC Davis Bathroom Vanity Lighting Retrofit (pdf)
Designed specifically for bathrooms, the hybrid vanity lighting system uses an occupancy sensor and LED nightlight to reduce the time the overhead fixture is on. UC Davis retrofitted 83 bathrooms in Webster Residence Hall with the hybrid system and achieved energy savings of 50%. 2007 Best Practice Award Winner - UC Santa Cruz Server Virtualization (pdf)
Server virtualization is helping UCSC manage growth in its constrained data center. So far the campus has consolidated 54 individual servers onto just 8 physical machines. 2007 Best Practice Award Winner - UC Santa Barbara Marine Science Research Laboratory Monitoring-based commissioning Project (pdf)
This monitoring-based commissioning project saved UCSB over $150,000 in energy costs and had a payback of 2 months after utility rebates. 2007 Best Practice Award Winner. - UC Davis Student Housing Lighting Retrofit (pdf)
UC Davis replaced electronic ballasts in two dorms with Axis light harvesting, dimmable ballasts. These fixtures automatically reduce the output of artificial light based on the amount of available daylight. 2006 Best Practice Award Winner - UC San Diego Chiller Upgrade & Turbine Addition (pdf)
Refurbishing the campus's oldest steam-powered chiller has created enough steam savings to power a new 3-megawatt electrical generator without increasing UCSD's natural gas consumption. 2006 Best Practice Award Winner - UC San Diego Cognitive Sciences (pdf)
Upgrades to the Cognitive Sciences HVAC system have cut the building's energy consumption in half. 2006 Best Practice Award Winner - UC San Francisco Rock Hall Monitoring-based commissioning Project (ppt)
UCSF saved over 720,000 kWh and almost 77,000 therms through this continuous commissioning project. 2006 Best Practice Award Winner - UC San Diego Laboratory HVAC Retrofit (pdf)
Retrofitting the HVAC systems in two laboratory buildings with variable frequency drives has enabled the campus to avoid 1.38 million kg of CO2 emissions each year. 2005 Best Practice Award Winner - UC San Diego Load-Shed Programming (pdf)
UC San Diego's automatic load-shed programming responds to grid emergencies and reduces costs associated with purchasing utility-provided electrical power. 2005 Best Practice Award Winner
Conference Presentations
Relevant presentations from the annual California University Sustainability Conference.
- UC Merced – Year 1: Campus Energy Performance (pdf) (2007)
John Elliot, Campus Energy Manager, UC Merced
UC Merced, the first research university built in the 21st century, is designed to use less than half the energy of comparable campuses. This presentation details UC Merced's success in meeting the campus's lofty goals during its first year of operation. - Today's High Performance Labs: The Energy Challenge (2006)
Dale Sartor, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab;
Craig Johnson, Senior Mechanical Engineer, UC San Diego;
Bill Cowdell, Mechanical Engineer, UC Irvine;
Rich Yardley, Newmatic Engineering
These presentations cover some of the latest strategies and best practices for optimizing laboratory energy performance.