Boilers Gone Green

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PurdueGoing Green

Boilers Gone GreenDaniel McGee

Benjamin RamseierBrian Ginn

Steven GoodellMarch 19, 2010

English 421YTechnical WritingFrank Tobienne, Jr.


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Table of Contents

1. Title Page...1

2. Table of Contents..2

3. Executive Summary .3

4. Energy....3-5

5. Water Conservation......6-8

6. Purdue Vehicles.8-10

7. Green Roof10

8. Purdue Facilities11-14

9. Conclusion.14

10. Annotated Bibliography..15-16

11. Appendix A...17-18

12. Appendix B...19-20


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Executive SummaryPurdue is constantly striving toward creating a greener campus with a focus on

environmental impact and energy conservation. The demand for conserving fiscal assetsthrough increasing efficiency is one of the driving forces behind their strategic plan. Inorder for Purdue to accomplish their overarching strategic plan they have implemented afew specific capital investment projects and strategies both past and present.

Team Boilers Gone Green has undertook the effort to evaluate the components ofPurdues strategic plan to promote a Green campus. The focus of our research efforts aredirected toward the conservation of energy and water as well as the building facilities and

transportation fleet. We have drawn from a list of resources including officialdocumentation, online reference materials and expert interviews to outline the specifics ofthese efforts.

EnergyPurdue has recently focused on trying to create a sustainability program that will

allow for both fiscal and environmental savings. One of the main components of thesustainability focuses on energy consumption in Purdue facilities and buildings. Accordingto Robin Ridgeway, the director of sustainability and environmental stewardship, the partsof campus that are most inefficient and need to improved are the Utility supply to our

older, inefficient buildings. Campus is comprised of older and newer building technologiesbut the fact that 64.8 % of buildings are build prior to 1970 shows a need for implementingthe sustainability program. There are a variety of tools that the university is trying to use inorder to conserve the energy consumption of facilities including utility monitoring, building

retrocomissioning, and evaluation of green building techniques.

The first step in implementing their energy conservation plan is to customize thebuilding control systems. This requires building maintenance personnel to closely monitorheating and cooling to specific areas of buildings at specific times. The emphasis ofPurdues physical facilities staff is to adjust the HVAC systems to synchronize with classtimes, startup and shutdown cutoffs, and necessary research facility requirements.

Customizing the control systems without investing in new technology will instantly cutdown the overhead of the buildings. The next step of their plan is to encourage faculty andemployees to follow a Lights Out campaign to conserve electrical energy. This involvescutting back on comfort equipment such as office refrigerators and powering down non-critical instruments. This campaign is still in the development phase however combining thetwo steps Purdue estimates it will save over two million dollars annually.


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Purdue has also qualified forQualified Energy Savings upgrades forthree of their buildings. The QualifiedEnergy Savings (QES) program allowsPurdue to borrow up to $10 million toretrofit their existing facilities. Thethree buildings it will retrofit areBrown Laboratory of Chemistry,Stewart Center, and Civil Engineering.At each of the facilities they willimplement new efficient water andelectrical technologies including bathroom equipment that will reducetheir derived consumption from thegrid. At Brown Laboratory ofChemistry they are installing new mechanical and electrical control systems to regulate airsupplied to the chemistry hoods. The retrocomissioning at Civil and Stewart Centerincludes installing new air handling units to reduce energy by accurately controlling the airflow during non peak hours. These improvements are estimated to pay for themselves in 10years.

Along with retrofitting and improving campus buildings, Purdue is also focusingon reducing the energy consumption of the residence halls. There have been a variety of

efforts amongst individual residence halls to help with Purdues sustainability effort. CaryQuadrangle installed new mechanized shades in the dining court to reduce solar heat gain.In Earhart Hall they installed HVAC control mechanisms to drastically reduce theinefficiency of the system as well as placed new drapes to reduce solar buildup. Allresidence halls have installed utility meters in order to track the improvement of the recentupgrades. The housing department collects the data and is able to make changes to theirstrategic plan based on empirical evidence. The second part of the housing departments plan is to educate students on what they can do to conserve energy. They currently arepublishing tips for students to follow on their webpage and intend on holding educationalseminars and conferences down the road.

Looking at Purdues energy consumption from a relative standpoint shows thatoverall the impact on their fiscal outlook is fair. A look at comparable universities in the BigTen shows that Purdue has the lowest energy expenses per gross square foot (GSF) at justunder a dollar per GSF. At the same time Purdue ranks third in the Big Ten in total energyconsumption, at just over 200,000 BTU/GSF, behind Michigan State University andUniversity of Illinois. These numbers reflect the effectiveness of Purdue creating its ownenergy through the Wade Utility Plant. Purdues campus grid consumes on average a

Civil Engineering Building was one of three buildings

that used the QES program


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maximum of approximately 47.2 megawatts with a combination of bought electricity andthe energy produced from the Wade Utility Plant. The Wade Utility Plant can produce up to40 megawatts using two steam turbine generators and one diesel driven generator whichgreatly helps Purdue save money from purchasing external supply.

Graph of Big Tens Energy Expenses per Gross Square Foot

Graph of Big Tens Energy Consumption shows the efforts of Purdue to create their own energy


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Water ConservationPurdue does not pay for the water that it used, but rather for the treatment of the

returning waste water. This cost is $5.34 per 1000 gallons of waste water, which is quitelow. Some might even say that Purdue doesnt need to cut costs in this area and they would be right. The national average daily water consumption is 72.5 gallons per person. AndPurdues average, it was a mere 60.4 gallons. This figure reflects the campus average beforethe university begins promoting conservation. Although some monetary savings can still bemade, the university is more concerned with its sustainability as a campus rather than thesize of the check that it has to write.

Practice water conservation in your daily activitiesThere are a number of common sense steps that we all can and should follow to

eliminate water wastage. Most of them do not involve a noticeable change in lifestyle. It ismore just a matter of turning off the water when not using it. Bathroom

Take short showers, not baths. Showers use between 2.5 (water conserving) and 4.5(conventional) gallons per minute, so even a 10 minute shower uses 25 to 45 gallons ofwater compared to as much as 35 gallons with a bath.Turn off the shower while you soap up and shampoo your hair.

Water wasted while waiting for water to get hot can be reduced by insulating hot water

pipes.Turn off the water while shaving, brushing your teeth, or washing your hands.

LaundryTry to launder only full loads, or if the washing machine has a water level control,

adjust it accordingly for the size of the load. Kitchen

Keep a covered bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator so that you dont have to letthe faucet run to get cold water.Wash only full loads in the dishwasher. Select the shortest cycles when possible.

Follow the manufacturers instructions on how to save water and energy.When hand washing dishes, turn off the hot water when rinsing dishes.Use a pan of water to wash, peel, or clean vegetables rather than letting the water run.


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A number of efforts have been made campus wide to promote water conservation.The two main methods used are: consumer education and encouragement, and theretrofitting of campus fixtures. By educating the students and faculty on campus, Purdue isable to target the users themselves. A number of Purdue sponsored websites provideinformation on water conservation techniques and the expected potential savings. PurduesSustainability Website serves as a hub for all things having to do with going green. It provides educational resources, sponsors a sustainability council, distributes informationabout Green Week events, and sponsors competitions between residence halls as well as onan intercollegiate level. In addition, Purdue has also partnered with the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) to produce an interactive guide to conservation. The application,which is available for download from the EPA, encourages consumers to reduce their usageby allowing them to estimate their savings from retrofitting based on a number of variables.In addition, users are reminded of many common sense fixes or behavioral changes thatcan result in reduced consumption: periodically checking for leaks in piping, taking showersinstead of baths, taking shorter showers, installing bags or limiting devices in toilets toreduce their usage, doing full loads of laundry, hand washing dishes, and just turning thefaucet or shower of in general when it is not needed.

Purdues administration understands that the individuals making up the student bodyare responsible for the majority of the universitys waste water. Because of this, the mosteffective way of reducing usage in this demographic is to provide them with the informationthey need and some encouragement to get them started. The Housing and Food ServicesDepartment at Purdue sponsors competitions to keep students actively involved and

thinking about conservation. The contest takes place between McCutcheon, Harrison,Earhart, and Shreve Hall and their consumption is monitored over a twelve day period. Each buildings utilities are metered and one of the challenges is for students to reduce theirindividual water usage relative to their residence halls average. A few tips for students areto limit showers to 3 minutes and to use fewer plates in the dining courts, which in turn cutsdown on the water necessary to wash them. The Resident Assistants even went as far as putting timers in the showers to encourage student participation. At the end of the twelvedays, the results were promising. The students of Harrison Hall reduced their average dailywater usage by 2.17 gallons per person. With approximately 800 residents in the building,that amounts to over 1,736 gallons conserved per day. If this could be sustained over anentire school year, the total savings would be over 388,864 gallons in this one hall alone.


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The second part of Purdues approach involves the retrofittingof campus fixtures. A conventional toilet can use as much as 4gallons of water per flush, and a urinal uses 1 gallon. All newconstruction on campus is slated to have newer, low-flow,efficient utilities. However, projected replacement costs forolder fixtures are too high and more waste is created in the process. As an alternative to replacement, low-flow devicesare being installed in many locations on campus.Conservacaps, as they are called, are made of plastic anddesigned to limit the amount of water that a urinal or toiletuses per flush, and they do this without decreasingeffectiveness. At $12 per piece, the devices installation takesapproximately fifteen minutes and yields promising results. InClass of 50 Lecture Hall and the Recitation Building, the two

test buildings, the university saw a 60% reduction equal to 271,000 gallons per year.

Purdue VehiclesWith gas prices on the rise in the United States, and the fear of foreign nations

completely controlling our oil supply, new ideas and solutions have been implemented onthe Purdue campus to lower vehicle energy costs. The newest of these solutions is the

implementation of the Smart Car to the Purdue vehicle fleet. "The Smart cars provide a low-cost and fuel-efficient alternative to transportation needs on campus and are an extensionof the Universitys sustainability efforts," said James S. Almond, interim executive vicepresident for business and finance and treasurer.

The smart cars are a product ofthe Mercedes-Benz Company. The ideabegan with a Swiss watch manufacturer,Swatch and was named theSwatchmobile. The original idea for theSwatchmobile was to manufacture a car

that was both innovative in aesthetics aswell as efficient on fuel economy, butcould be affordable and easily marketableto younger drivers. After the SwatchCompany pitched the design to GeneralMotors and was rejected, they looked toVW to produce they car. The VW version

One of Purdues New Smart Vehicles


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of the Swatchmobile never made it past the drawing board because of financial trouble thecompany was facing at the time. With automobile manufacturers in economic troublearound the world, Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek set his sights on Mercedes-Benz to producehis pet project.

The smart car is a two seat coupe which has had exceptional safety and energysaving reviews. Each Smart For-two has a1.0L, 70HP 3cylinder engine and an electricmotor, making the smart For-two the lightest hybrid vehicle on the road. With a 5 speedmanual transmission, and the Smarts light weight (1600lbs) and small size it is able toeasily have a 36 mpg on both the highway and in town. This makes the Smart For-two anideal choice for the Purdue transportation department to add to their fleet to keep emissionlevels and energy costs low.

The car has faced criticism on its overall safety because of the smarts small size.Traditionally smaller cars are lesssafe and have had veryunfortunate outcomes for theirdrivers and passengers wheninvolved in an accident. Thesmart For-two combats this problem with the Tridion steelsafety shell. The Tridion shell is ahemispherical steel enclosure that

encompasses the entire carsinterior. A 70 mph crash testconducted by British TV show"Top Gear" revealed that theSmart For-two's body remainedmostly intact when compared tothat of a conventional subcompactcar, said Ed Grabianowski.There is a small energy absorbent area in the front of the car that crumples when impacted.This slows and reduces the energy from a crash before it reaches the driver and/orpassengers. These make the smart car a four star safety vehicle, which for its size, is a pretty

impressive accomplishment.

The smart vehicles will be an addition to the rental vehicle part of the fleet that isused to transport people. "For now we expect to use them to get people to meetings or jobsites. We're beginning to get more interest from departments around campus in long-termrentals," said John Gleason, senior director of administrative support and auxiliary services.


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With the addition of the smart Fortwos, the Purdue University vehicle fleet is comprisedentirely of either flexfuel or hybrid vehicles. By 2012 the university plans on have a fleetcomprised of 60% hybrids and 40% flexfuel vehicles. This will give Purdue the upper handon battling the energy crisis and breaking away from foreign oil dependency.

In todays fuel prices and the higher emphasis on high car emissions, PurdueUniversity has made great steps towards having a fully environmental friendlytransportation fleet. With the new addition of the smart Fortwo cars and their consistent push to have hybrid and flexfuel vehicles being used to transport people and materials,Purdue has the equipment to get all necessary jobs done without presently harming theenvironment.

Green RoofOne of the first sustainability projects that Purdue has completed is installing a new

green roof on the Schleman Hall of Student Services. A green roof is a layer of vegetationthat rests above a waterproof membrane that acts as insulation to the building. It reduces theamount of heat and cold that is absorbed by the building and eliminates the water pollutioncaused by runoff of the previous tar roof. The project was planned and carried out by BoilerGreen Initiative, a student organization dedicated to providing green solutions to campus.One of the primary components that helps conserve energy in the building is the use ofreflective pavers that reflects the heat from sunlight back into the atmosphere instead of

absorbing it. The green roof also features recyclable material integrated into the designincluding the tables, chairs and rails. Boiler Green Initiative and the Sustainability Councilare currently looking to implement the same technology and success with the Schleman Hallroof into creating a green roof on Mann Hall, the Purdue Armory and part of the horticulturebuilding.

Schelman Halls Green Roof


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Purdue FacilitiesWhen thinking about sustainability, there are many things to keep in mind. Before

going deeper into, one must understand what sustainability really means. According to thebook definition, it means to have the capacity to endure. This can have a different definitiondepending on what subject one is actually talking about. From a stand point relating toharvesting crops, it means to use a resource, but not to a point where it depletes or permanently damages the resource. When someone is talking about sustainability in ageneral sense, it is referring to the sustainability of humans and the sustainability of theplanet Earth. In order for and endless amount of generations of humans to thrive, there hasto be a place for these people to live. Over the past 10-15 years, there has been a greeninitiative sweeping the nation that is asking people and businesses to be aware. Everyoneneeds to be aware of what they are throwing away, what they are flushing down the toilet,what is burning in their car as they are commuting to work and what other energy is beingwasted needlessly. This initiative in general has been underway for quite some time and willcontinue into to the future. More and more large corporations, businesses and finallyeducational institutions are catching on since the government is supporting the effort.

The United State Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers tax incentives forbeing energy efficient. These tax credits help offset the cost of investing a little bit more in acertain product, a building, or car. One example of an incentive based off beingenvironmentally friendly is in Cincinnati, OH. In this city, if a new building or a renovated

property meets a minimum level of green certification, the real property tax is 100% exemptfor that year. Along with these tax incentives, there is another perk to joining thesustainability effort, good Public Image. The more a business or institution thinks about andpractices sustainability, the better public image the company has. These companies are seenas a Good Corporate Citizen. General environmental dangers are becoming more andmore prominent where people live and work. Many companies who are trying to improvetheir carbon footprint are being rewarded. One of the major components in practicingsustainability is the actual physical structure of a building. According to the NaturalResources Defense Council, more than 40% of total energy use is accounted for bybuildings, including 70% of total electrical energy. Buildings also account for 40% of globalwarming emissions and raw materials consumed along with 30% of solid municipal waste.

With all of these in consideration, a slight increase in efficiency across the board will createa huge improvement overall in energy savings. As a standard for sustainable buildings, theUnited States government created the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Thiscouncil in turn created a standard on which buildings are judged in respect to environmentalissued and energy efficiency. This standard is called the Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. If a building meets certaincriteria, different levels of LEED certification are given.


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There are four different levels of LEEDcertification that can be achieved. These levelsof certification are certified, silver, gold andplatinum. In order to achieve any of these, newconstruction or major renovations of buildingsget points based on their score out of 69 possible credits. The 2009 version of LEEDcertification credits cover the followingcriteria: the location of the site, waterefficiency, energy and atmosphere, materialsand resources, indoor environmental quality,innovation and design and regional priority ofthe building site. If a building gets between 26-32 points, it is considered LEED certified. Ifthe building gets between 33 and 38 points, it

will receive a Silver LEED certification. If it gets up to 51 points, it is Gold LEED certifiedand anything beyond 51 is considered Platinum LEED certified.

Purdue University is currently in the process of moving toward a greener campus.The first major move toward this overall goal can be seen in the Roger B. GatewoodAddition of the Mechanical Engineering building. This building, a $33 million, 41,000square foot building, which has been under construction since 2008, is going to be the firstfully green building on campus. An interview with Keith Hawks, the associate head of

Mechanical Engineering yielded some interesting information about the building. When this project first got off the ground, the only green goal was to get LEED certified, notnecessarily with a higher distinction. Now that the project is underway andsome goals are being surpassed, this newaddition is now aiming to get Gold LEEDcertification. The project managers aredoing everything they possibly can incorrelation with the LEED credits andbarring set backs are going to get a goldcertification. In order to make room for

this addition, a building was demolishedwhich was standing where theconstruction is underway now. 96% ofthis building was recycled. Once theconstruction began, the designers of thebuilding knew they wanted to make it asenergy efficient as possible. One of the Roger B. Gatewood Addition


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first things they had to figure out was the heating and air conditioning of this building. They plugged the design of the building into a computer program that calculated the heat losswithin the building to found the places where the heat loss was occurring. There was extrainsulation added to these areas to keep the energy inside the building that they wanted. Theyalso added triple pane glass to reduce the heat loss through the windows. In the actualheating units, there is an economizer. This means the air leaving the building through theexhaust will help heat the new air coming in. It essentially acts like a heat exchanger andreduces the cost of heating the building. The air coming into the building will be purifiedusing UV light to clean the air. This will ensure the cleanliness of the air.

Once the thermal evaluation was complete in the building, the interior design wasadjusted to eliminate unneeded energy. One example of this is the building will havereduced lighting levels in big office areas. Each desk will have a low energy task light. Inthese rooms there will also be motion sensors with light bulbs that are called photocelllights. This means the lights will only turn on if the light level is low enough. These savingwill be seen every month in the energy bill. Also in the Gatewood addition, the plumbingfixtures have been added to encourage maximum water savings. The bathrooms all haveautomatic controls with low flow toilets and water fountains. The roof of this building willbe considered a green roof even though it will be painted white. The type of paint that this iswill have a high solar reflectance index. This is equivalent to have actual vegetation on theroof in terms of energy usage.

One last feature that will be in the atrium of the Gatewood addition is an information

kiosk. This has been the pet project of Professor Hawks and will be one of the first of itskind. This kiosk will have a list of all the credits received by the LEED certification andwill show the average person who walks in there the features of the building. Another thingin this kiosk will be the current energy levels of the building. Professor Hawks, who hasworked in the Physical Building Department at Purdue for the past 40 years, has set up asystem with the energy companies. This system will show up to date of the amounts of eachtype of energy (i.e. pounds of coals) used to power the building. This kiosk will be veryinformative and will also serve as a center of education for the building.


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It can be seen that the Gatewood addition to the Mechanical Engineering building willhave many state of the art features that will reduce energy usage. This is the first stepPurdue must take in ensuring sustainability. This project also yielded many long termeffects. The Purdue staff now has 11 LEED accredited professionals who went throughthorough training on LEED certification. These people will now always be looking toincrease the sustainability of our campus. Also Purdue will now have prime example of theeffects of having a green building. They will see firsthand the energy savings of the greeninitiative. Overall, through the Roger B. Gatewood addition, Purdue has made a giant leapin the right direction for sustainability and the green initiative.

ConclusionAfter conducting the research and overlooking all the facts, it can be easily seen that Purdueis making efforts to be more sustainable as an institution. The campus is retrocommissioning many of its buildings in order to save energy and money for the future. Witha small investment now, these improvements will pay for themselves and then somemore. One example of this is the Green Roof that was placed on Schleman Hall. This thinlayer of vegetation will reduce the effect of radiation on the roof of the building. With goodautomobile purchases the Purdue fleet will have better gas mileage than otherinstitutions. The final step that Purdue has made was seen in the Mechanical Engineeringaddition of the Roger B. Gatewood Wing. Purdue has set an example for the future with theexpected LEED Gold certification. As this project has went forth, 11 employees of Purdue

have been LEED certified. This increased knowledge on staff will help on future Purdueprojects. This also shows that Purdue is on board to join the sustainability effort. OverallPurdue is making big leaps toward a greener tomorrow.


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Annotated Bibliography

Blank, Mark. "Residential Water Conservation Techniques | Software for EnvironmentalAwareness | US EPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1 Apr. 1991. Web. 26 Feb.2010. .

This is a water conservation website put together by the Environmental ProtectionAgency. On the site is a link to software created by Purdue University. Throughdownloading a program or viewing it online, visitors are educated on retrofitting in-home appliances and outdoor applications as well. Also included is a WaterConservation Calculator that allows consumers to estimate their possible savingsdepending on which items they retrofit or replace.

"Campus Buildings & Features." Purdue University. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

This website gives an overview of Purdues projects in creating green buildings. Itbriefly describes the features of the new Mechanical Engineering wing as well aspast and present efforts.

"Campus Utilities and Energy Conservation." Purdue Unviersity Board of Trustees, 9 Apr.

2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2010. .

This is a presentation created by the Purdue University Board of Trustees thatfocuses on the fiscal savings and commitments of Purdue towards sustainability. Itdetails gas consumption, campus utilities, as well as power production andcompares it over time.

"GROUND WATER PRIMER."PurdueUniversity. 8 May 1998. Web. 25 Feb. 2010..

This is a site developed by the Agricultural & Biological Engineering Departmentat Purdue to educate people about various topics. Some of which are an overview ofour water supply, its possible contaminants, personal actions that can be taken toconserve, and programs that are already in place to help. It is a joint effort withfunding coming from Purdue and the US Environmental protection agency.


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Hawks, Keith. Personal interview. 4 Mar. 2010.

Keith Hawks is an associate professor in the school of Mechanical Engineering.

Although he does not teach, he implicitly speaks to the project manager of the add-on to the Mechanical Engineering building. He is involved on a day to day basis ofthe construction of the building. This interview overviews what the MechanicalEngineering building involves and how it will increase the sustainability and greenmovement at Purdue University.

"Purdue University Physical Facilities ."PurdueUniversity. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2010..

This webpage covers the sustainability at Purdue University, specifically in theMechanical Engineering building. Overall improvements and additions to the

building are included in this webpage. Some important information acquired fromthis webpage include: Roofing supplies with a high Solar Reflectance Index ,Plumbing fixtures that use less treated water, Construction materials with recycledcontent, Carpet that is Green Label Plus rated and Wood products certified by theForest Stewardship Council.

Sandel, Ken L. "President's Letter." Letter. 2 Feb. 2010. Purdue University. Web. 25 Feb.2010. .

This is a letter from Ken Sandel who is the Project Manager for the Sustaining NewSynergies Task force at purdue. It talks about their initiave for conserving energy

and is directed toward purdue employees. It spotlights their concern over the energyused in physical facilities as well as the technology involved.

"Smart Cars Now Part of Purdue Fleet."Purdue News Service. 27 Jan. 2009. Web. 24 Feb.2010. .

This article explains that to reduce energy waste and save money on fuel for Purduevehicle, Smart Cars are being implemented. The Smart cars get better gas mileageand have a five star crash safety rating. The article also talks about the differentways that the Purdue Transportation Dept. has done to reduce fuel costs and to bemore environmental friendly

"Sustainability: Tips You Can Use."PurdueUniversity. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. .

This is a website sponsored by Purdues Sustainability Council. It encouragesvisitors to conserve water and energy, reduce waste through recycling, and reduceemissions through more efficient travel. Tips and consumption data are listed foreach category along with possible cost savings.


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Appendix A: Interview With Keith HawksInterview With Keith Hawks, Associate Dean of Mechanical Engineering,

interviewed by Daniel McGee

DM: What is your role in the Roger B. Gatewood Addition of the Mechanical

Engineering building?

KH: I am the project manager and representative for the Mechanical EngineeringDepartment. All the final decisions must go through me. I also deal with the contruction ona day to day basis among other things.

DM: How did you get to be involved in this project?

KH: I worked for 40 years with the Physical Building Department at Purdue. I never leftafter I graduated and got my PhD. I got a little lucky and my first job was a study with thewastewater facility that was very successful and I have been at purdue ever since. Over mytime here I have worked in almost every section of the Physical Building Department andhave made many contacts. I was also deeply involved in the construction of the newArmstrong building and served as the project manager for that as well.

DM: What does it mean to be LEED certified?

KH: Well LEED is a acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Prettystandard set of guidelines on how to construct a building with the green initiatives. In this

there are credits, the more credits you get, the better the certification.

DM: What level of certification do you expect the Gatewood addition to get?

KH: Originally our plan was just to get the standard LEED certification. We always knewwe wanted to shoot for as best as we could, but only planned on getting the minimum. Wehired a LEED consultant to help us out and as things moved forward, we found out that wewere getting more credits than we expected. With the credits we have now and what weexpect to get once we get closer to finish, we should be able to get the gold certification.

DM: Does the LEED certification benefit purdue in anyway?

KH: It gives a good public image and gives a good basis for how the buildings are made.Also while in the process of getting this building certified, we have had 11 Purdueemployees get LEED certified. These people will now know exactly what to look for in theLEED certification and will be more aware. Also in the future, all new Purdue buildingswill now be LEED certified.


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DM: What are they doing with this building to make it more energy efficient?

KH: We used a computer program to plot out the floor plans. Once we inserted it into thisprogram, it told us where the heat would escape and how we could make it better. We addedinsulation in these areas and then added triple pane windows. This way we will keep all theheat and air inside the building. Also we are reducing the lighting levels in the office areasand giving each desk a low voltage task light. This will save a lot money in the energy billeach month. Also everyone will have motion control lighting with photocell lights. Thesephotocell lights will judge the amount of light in a room and will only turn on if the lightinglevel is low enough. Another thing we are adding is a Green Roof. This is not the standardgreen roof in that it will not have vegetation, but it will have a white paint that will reflectthe suns rays and will not absorb it. In our heating systems, we are using an economizerunit. In this unit it will use the exhaust from the building to heat the incoming air. Since itnaturally heats the air, the heating costs for the building will be substantially reduced.

DM: How about water efficiency, are you guys using plumbing fixtures that will

reduce water usage?

KH: Absolutely, all the bathrooms will have automatic controls on them so you wont haveto manually flush them. The toilets themselves and water fountains are low flow devicesalso.

DM: What else is being done?

KH: Well we are using an air purifier that will use UV light to clean the air. The labs in herewill have fresh air directly from outside. This way the air will be very clean and theinstructors will be free to do almost whatever they want to in these rooms. We are alsoadding Fume hoods for chemicals. Another thing that I have been working on myself as apet project is an information Kiosk. This kiosk will be in the atrium of the building and willhave all the LEED certification information on there. Also in this kiosk will be currentenergy usages and other up to date pieces of information about the building. One thing that Iadded myself is through a contact that I had back when I worked for the electric company asa part of the Purdue Staff. I remember when I worked there they had data that showedwhere each specific type of energy went to and had calculated values and percentages about

various power sources. Im going to add this info to the kiosk so everyone can see where thepower that the building is using is coming from. I think this will be a very informativebuilding many people will appreciate the amount of knowledge they can get from this littlekiosk.


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Appendix B: Interview With Robin RidgwayInterview With Robin Ridgway, Director of Sustainability andEnvironmental Stewardship, through email by Steven Goodell

SG: What is the role of the sustainability council in terms of creating university

policy on environmental issues?

RR: The eventual hope for the Council is to serve as a connector across the University on

issues related to sustainability, perhaps an informing/advising body to the senior

administration, and a group that really connects the teaching opportunity of our physical

campus to the faculty. We'll be formalizing the Council's role this spring in our Strategic

Plan.

SG: What are the primary initiatives that the council and university are

implementing to conserve energy and push towards a greener campus?

RR: We are a big partner with the Sustaining New Synergies Energy Conservation

piece. We will be assisting in raising campus awareness of energy issues as well as a portal

for energy related information.

SG: What are the primary sectors of campus that are most inefficient and need to

be improved to conserve energy?

RR: Utility supply to our older, inefficient buildings.

SG: What specific technologies are available or have been implemented to aid in

reaching your goals?

RR: Ongoing initiatives are: utility metering, building retrocomissioning, energy savingsprojects, utility information data sharing, evaluation of green building techniques (LEED).


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SG: How does, if at all, discovery park and their research contribute to the

university's initiatives?

RR: With the formation of the Sustainability Initiative out of PCCRC, C4E and the Eenergy

Center, we hope to have even better information exchange between the academic side and

the operational side on partnering opportunities.

SG: What steps can Purdue students follow to be more involved in this cause and

contribute to your efforts?

RR: Find the groups on campus that are active in sustainability related initiatives: Boiler

Green, Purdue Student Government, the Energy Club, NetImpact are just a few and get

involved. Find out what projects you can help with. The student groups are our best

partners in this.

Documents

Boilers Gone Green