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North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, North Dakota

NDSCS Improves Facilities, Saves Energy with Energy Services Group

The campus of NDSCS encompasses twenty-eight facilities, with over 1.15 million
square feet of educational space. NDSCS is a Performance Contracting pilot project
for the State of North Dakota's College and University system. ESG was selected by NDSCS and the State of North Dakota over numerous other Performance Contracting firms.

Challenges:

		Aging facilities and infrastructure including heating plant and electrical systems.
		Increasing energy and operating costs - budget shortfalls.
		Shortage of capital funds to address deferred maintenance.
		Increase the operating and energy efficiency of twenty-eight aging facilities.
		Provide an inviting environment for students, staff and the community.

Solutions:

		Installation of lighting retrofits including converting existing fixtures from T-12 fluorescent lamps and magnetic ballasts to T-8 lamps and electronic ballasts, and convert incandescent lighting to fluorescent lighting. Installation of new fixtures to increase light levels.
		Installation of room occupancy sensors and exterior photocells for improved lighting control.
		HID to T-8 fluorescent fixtures.
		Incandescent and HID to "pulse" start Metal Halide lighting.
		Installation of variable speed drives on motors for efficient control and extended equipment life.
		Installation of energy efficient motors on mechanical systems for efficiency and reliability.
		Installation of an automatic swimming pool cover to save energy and operating costs.
		Installation of water saving retrofits.
		Installation of a campus wide energy management system and direct digital controls on HVAC equipment for improved efficiency and comfort.
		Central heating plant improvements including steam system repairs and insulation upgrades for efficiency and comfort.
		Deferred maintenance improvements including cleaning and repairing mechanical system components.
		Temperature control updates for improved efficiency and comfort.
		Ongoing ten year partnership, with Energy Service Group providing training and maintenance staff development, measurement/verification and performance assurance.

Results:

		Reduced energy costs by more than 23 percent, while improving light levels and room temperature comfort.
		Improvements will result in campus saving over $235,000 per year that is being used to pay for the upgrades.
		Improved reliability of mechanical and electrical systems, campus wide.

Conclusion:

Despite the dramatic increase in costs of heating (natural gas and oil) during the 2000-2001 heating season, North Dakota State College of Science's anticipated additional cost of $400,000 could have been much larger.

As it turns out, NDSCS's $1.9 million energy savings project was a blessing in disguise as a reduction of electrical energy consumption held down that portion of NDSCS's energy costs. Wayne Flack, director of the college's Physical Plant, said "the Energy Service Groups Performance Contracting project has given us the opportunity to make over due capital improvements to our facilities. ESG has given us a solution to nagging problems we couldn't address due to budget shortfalls."

NDSCS and ESG staff worked as a team to bundle as many of the goals and objectives of the college. "One of the objectives of this partnership was to improve the campus learning and working environment" states Flack. An example of this being accomplished includes the new energy efficient lighting that will maintain or in many cases increase light levels while improving the light quality and color. Other improvements include steam system efficiency improvements and implementation of campus-wide temperature control and energy management system. "The steam system improvements will reduce the heat being wasted in unoccupied areas such as the mechanical rooms and penthouse areas. Tighter HVAC system control and better monitoring of facilities with the installation of campus-wide energy management system has really helped us reduce heating and air conditioning costs."

"ESG has met all of our expectations in fulfilling their contract obligations with NDSCS. As you can imagine, a project this size was bound to have some surprises and problems not covered under the original agreement. When that did happen, ESG would step forward with solutions to the issue of the day. Finger pointing of who missed what in the original agreement never occurred. The college has been very satisfied with both the management approach and the engineering aspects of the project," states Michael F. Renk, Vice President for Administrative Affairs, NDSCS.

The project has also had a positive impact on the environment. The project included recycling hazardous mercury found in the "old technology" fluorescent lamps and ballasts, which also contained PCB hazardous waste. In addition, the reduced energy consumption will cut air pollution because less energy will be needed. Finally, the campus-wide water conservation measures implemented with the ESG energy savings project will also reduce water consumption.

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