Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan

Transcription

1 Greenhuse Gas Reductin Plan Executive Summary July 18, 2017 Wrcester Plytechnic Institute

2 Greenhuse Gas Reductin Plan Executive Summary Intrductin: WPI s Cmmitment t Sustainability The missin f WPI includes the cmmitment T create, t discver, and t cnvey knwledge at the frntiers f academic inquiry fr the betterment f sciety. This cmmitment t the imprtance f scietal impacts led t the creatin f ur Plan fr Sustainability, including the majr gal f develpment and implementatin f a Greenhuse Gas (GHG) Reductin Plan. Recgnizing that the increase f carbn dixide and ther greenhuse gases in the atmsphere is a majr cntributr t climate change, and further recgnizing that the emissin f these gases due t human activities is a primary cause f this increase, WPI cmmits t taking respnsible actin t track ur emissins and t minimize the quantity emitted. Accmplishments t Date While this frmal GHG reductin plan is just being finalized, WPI has been active in minimizing its envirnmental impact fr many years. Salient accmplishments include the fllwing: Implementatin f campus-wide recycling in 1990, with majr enhancements, 2006; Replacement f the central pwer huse bilers with efficient, natural gas units, 2006; Cmmitment by the WPI Bard f Trustees t design all future buildings t LEED standards, 2007 (Fur LEED-certified buildings have been cmpleted and a fifth is under cnstructin.); Creatin f the President s Task Frce n Sustainability, c-chaired by the Prvst and CFO, 2007; Develpment and acceptance by the Bard f Trustees f the WPI Sustainability Plan, 2013; Investment f apprximately $500,000 annually in energy efficiency upgrade wrk, beginning in FY2014; Receipt f AASHE STARS Gld rating fr verall perfrmance in peratinal, educatinal, research, and cmmunity aspects f sustainability, Establishment f a Green Revlving Fund t institutinalize the cmmitment t cntinued wrk t reduce energy and ther resurce cnsumptin, FY18; All f these activities have had a psitive impact n the reductin f ur direct r indirect 1 GHG emissins. While this GHG Plan is imprtant, it is just ne cmpnent f ur verall cmmitment t sustainability as dcumented in ur WPI Sustainability Plan. 1 Direct campus emissins, such as frm ur bilers and vehicles, are referred t as Scpe 1; emissins due t prductin f the electricity used n campus are referred t as Scpe 2; ther emissins related t WPI peratins, such as cmmuting and business travel, are referred t as Scpe 3. 1

3 MTCDE Emissins Histry and Current Status In the perid after FY07 and cntinuing t the present WPI has been in a perid f substantial grwth in flr space, student, faculty and staff ppulatin, and research activity. All f this is reflected in the grwth in energy usage and greenhuse gas emissins depicted in the early years f Figure 1. By FY09 we were emitting a ttal f 17,710 metric tns f CO 2e annually. This represents the highpint fr campus energy usage and emissins. Thanks t aggressive energy cnservatin wrk, even in a perid when WPI added 263,000 grss square feet f flr space, ur usage and ur emissins have decreased. Withut these effrts ur utility usage, and cst, wuld have been expected t increase by abut 15%, crrespnding t apprximately an additinal 4.4 millin kwh and 22,300 millin BTU annually, alng with an additinal utility cst f apprximately $840,000. Anther majr cntributin t reductin f GHG emissins was the cnversin f ur central heating plant frm fuel il t natural gas in FY06. This 20,000 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 Histric Campus Scpe 1 and 2 Emissins 0 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 Scpe 2 Emissins Scpe 1 Emissins Figure 1 WPI Scpe 1 and Scpe 2 emissins. Scpe 2 is due entirely t electricity use. Scpe 1 is due primarily t natural gas fr building heating with cntributins frm campus vehicles and pwer equipment. cnversin reduced ur Scpe 1 GHG prductin by apprximately 25%. Determinatin f GHG Reductin Actins The crnerstne f essentially every GHG reductin plan is energy efficiency. Reductin f the amunt f energy used by WPI reduces greenhuse gases, reduces the stress n the electric grid, and saves mney. WPI has successfully implemented several majr energy cnservatin effrts, targeting bth electric and thermal energy. An extensin f this prgram frms the basis fr this Greenhuse Gas Reductin Plan. GreenerU, a firm with substantial experience in campus energy efficiency auditing and upgrades was engaged t cntinue previus wrk in auditing campus buildings fr energy usage and efficiency upgrade ptential. 2

4 MT CO2e Simple Payback, years Details f the building audit results are presented in the full reprt. These audits, tgether with previus, nn-implemented building studies, demnstrate the ptential fr significant additinal savings in energy, utility csts, and greenhuse gas emissins. If cmpletely implemented, these specific prjects wuld reduce WPI s energy use by apprximately 21.6 millin BTU annually, r apprximately 8.5% f ttal energy use. Further, an additinal 38% f WPI s building flr space appears feasible fr energy upgrades. Financial Aspects An understanding f the financial as well as the energy and GHG implicatins f ptential prjects is essential. Figure 2 shws the simple payback perids fr each studied prject and Figure 3 shws the cumulative GHG savings as a functin f prject payback. This chart demnstrates that apprximately 85% f the ptential GHG savings can be realized with payback perids f 7.5 years r less Payback Perids Building Figure 2. Simple payback perids fr audited buildings, in rder f increasing payback time Cumulative GHG Savings Simple Payback, years Figure 3. Ttal cumulative annual GHG savings achievable with multiple prjects, rdered by prject frm the shrtest payback perid t the lngest. 3

5 Amunts A key implicatin f the financial analysis is that all f these prjects pay back their implementatin csts in 7.5 years r fewer, and after the payback perid, they prvide an annual savings in WPI s energy csts. This is illustrated with the cash flw depicted in Figure 4 fr ne pssible sequence f prject implementatin. It shws that in year seven the cumulative balance f WPI s investment cst and energy savings becmes psitive, and cntinues t grw in future years. Of curse this apprximate analysis must be refined prir t prject implementatin. Annual Cst, Savings, Cumulative Balance $800,000 $600,000 $400,000 $200,000 $- $(200,000) $(400,000) Annual Investment $(600,000) Annual Savings $(800,000) Cumulative Balance $(1,000,000) Year Figure 4. Illustratin f ne pssible set f energy upgrades. The cumulative balance indicates the cumulative sum f investment csts (negative) and utility savings (psitive), shwing a net psitive benefit in year 7 and beynd. A cmmn metric in GHG reductin studies is the cst per metric tn f GHG reduced. Fr the prjects described here, that net cst ver the payback perid cnsidering prject investments balanced against utility savings will actually be negative representing a dllar savings t WPI as well as a reductin in GHG emissins. Gal and Related Cmmitments WPI s gal, even as we grw in size, is t achieve a 20% reductin in grss Scpe 1 and Scpe 2 Greenhuse Gas emissins by FY25, relative t the benchmark year f FY14. This gal can be achieved with implementatin f the energy cnservatin plan presented in this reprt, tgether with small reductins due t additinal effrts. T reach this gal WPI makes the fllwing cmmitments: 1. WPI will strive t cntinue t reduce emissins at a rate that matches recent success, apprximately 1.5% annually via cntinuatin f the energy upgrade prgram. As has been demnstrated t date, cntinuatin f these measures will yield net financial savings t WPI. 4

6 2. WPI will actively pursue the implementatin f additinal measures such as advanced energy cnservatin techniques, supprt fr cntinued grwth f clean electricity, and use f advanced heating/cling technlgy. 3. WPI will undertake t measure and reprt thse cmpnents f Scpe 3 emissins (principally faculty/student/staff cmmuting and WPI-related travel) that are feasible t quantify, and t develp prgrams t reduce r cmpensate fr these emissins. 4. WPI cmmits that its educatin will impart the knwledge and skills necessary fr its graduates t bring abut majr reductins in greenhuse gas emissins thrugh their careers. 5. Finally, WPI cmmits t cntinued supprt fr its research prgrams that are advancing the scientific knwledge and the engineering implementatins that will reduce greenhuse gas emissins glbally. Implementatin Plan The fllwing strategies are recmmended fr implementatin in the shrt (1-5 year) term fr Scpe 1 and 2 emissins: Energy Upgrades Cntinuatin f the prgram f thermal and electric energy efficiency upgrades t campus buildings at the rate f at least ne majr building per year, r the equivalent in sme number f smaller buildings. It is recmmended that this effrt be implemented via a green Revlving Fund. Upgrade f exterir campus lighting with mre efficient LED fixtures and apprpriate cntrls Implementatin f flexible cntrls fr athletic field lighting and pssible cnversin t LED fixtures t minimize energy use while prviding apprpriate lighting fr activities. Cmplementary effrts Implementatin f a Green Labs prgram including educatin and incentives n the many ways in which energy and ther resurces may be used mre efficiently in the labratry envirnment. Implementatin f an nging mnitring system as part f the building autmatin systems t minimize the degradatin f energy perfrmance f buildings ver time and t dcument the actual energy savings achieved by upgrade and cnservatin wrk. Inclusin f energy efficiency cnsideratins in all majr maintenance prjects. Cnduct f a cmprehensive study f campus water use, identifying waste, leaks, and pprtunities fr efficiency imprvements, and implementatin f the results. The GHG impact will be relatively small but the water resurce cnservatin is wrthwhile in itself. 5

7 Implementatin f building and space access plicies and cntrls t cncentrate the use f space, recgnizing the dynamic nature f campus utilizatin, resulting in bth electricity and heating/cling savings. Cnduct f an nging educatin prgram t supprt behavirs that cnserve energy. Numerus studies reprt energy reductin results in the 5% range fr targeted behaviral prgrams, but als cautin that lng term effects require nging prgrams. Verificatin that the state s n idle plicy is implemented fr campus vehicles. Majr purchases Perfrmance f an engineering study f the ptential fr further reductin f energy use in ur infrmatin technlgy equipment, and implementatin f the recmmendatins. Attentin t energy use in all new equipment purchases. Cnsideratin f fuel efficiency in all campus fleet and pwer equipment purchases, and purchase f hybrid, electric r bidiesel vehicles where feasible. 6