Angelo State University

PROGRESS REPORT

For fiscal 2026, Angelo State University (ASU) continues the three-part upgrade to the Central Plant. The first component is installation of an adiabatic cooling system to replace the original inefficient system that will greatly reduce the water usage and power used to cool that water. The system is in place and should be connected and operational by January 2026. The second part is to replace the two large boilers that were originally steam boilers with four smaller condensate boilers. The old boilers have been removed, the new ones are in place and hopes are to have them operational in November 2025. This will greatly improve the efficiency of natural gas usage. The third is to install automated flow control valves and new piping throughout the university’s heating and cooling lines; this is 25% complete. These valves allow precise control and flow rate of temperature-controlled water to coil units in many buildings, greatly improving the efficiency heated and cooled water from the Central Plant in temperature controlling the buildings. This will save on electricity, natural gas and water consumption.

ASU continues to replace lighting with LED fixtures cutting the electricity consumption from lighting fixtures greatly. This past year ASU replaced all the lighting down the 4,000-foot mall (the main sidewalk artery of campus). ASU has switched over approximately 70% of the exterior campus lighting to LED, and 50% of the more than 2 million-square-foot interior lighting has been retrofitted to LED. The university continues its arrangement with CLEAResult, an energy performance firm contracted through AEP Texas (American Electric Power) and the SCORE Program, to obtain benchmarking reports and building modeling for proper paths to energy efficiency without spending additional state funding. They are currently involved in a Strategic Energy Management (SEM) Program with six buildings on campus to figure out and implement the best practice around energy management, improve the energy efficiency and save time and money for the university’s efforts. Each year the buildings are evaluated to continue in the program or add new ones if it is deemed maximum efficiency has been reached.

Angelo State University also has an agreement with YearOut Energy to provide the EnergyCAP software system to the university and track utility use and cost. This will provide a much more robust and timely reporting system on how the university is using its utilities.

For reporting purposes, energy units are converted to kBtu to allow for comparisons of electricity and natural gas usage. Goals and energy use are then stated in kBtu/sq. ft. to compare different years while our footprint changes. Estimated savings are based on energy consumption for the same period from the stated year normalized to current energy costs and campus square footage. It does not take into consideration the climate difference between periods.

In fiscal 2025 when combining electricity and natural gas consumption, the entire campus used 68.8 kBtu/sq. ft. That was a decrease of 9.8% from the previous year. This overall decrease for the year gave an estimated savings of $214,612 as compared with fiscal 2024 expenditures.

In Table I below, the campus energy use is broken down by utility type. The percent change column is the energy usage change from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025.

Table I: Campus Energy Use (kBtu/sq. ft.): Fiscal 2020-2025

Utility	Fiscal 2020	Fiscal 2021	Fiscal 2022	Fiscal 2023	Fiscal 2024	Fiscal 2025	% Change	Est. Savings
Electricity	54.26	52.36	54.96	50.24	53.39	50.13	-6.1066%	$135,997
Nat. Gas	22.58	24.72	21.20	23.75	22.87	18.67	-18.3581%	$78,616
Total	76.85	77.08	76.16	73.99	76.26	68.80	-9.7813%	$214,612

GOALS

Angelo State University set a goal to reduce electrical consumption by 0.75% for fiscal 2025 as compared with the benchmark year with the goal of reducing the consumption by 6% by 2028. Table II below shows the utility use as expressed by unit used per square foot of campus. This allows a way to evaluate yearly usage as the university expands over time. It shows a 7.5% decrease for fiscal 2025 as compared with the benchmark year of fiscal 2020 and a 6% decrease from the previous year’s consumption.

ASU set a goal in 2022 to reduce natural gas consumption by 6% by 2028. That was before the large Central Plant upgrade was planned out. It is believed the technological advances implemented with this upgrade might result in a 20% reduction of overall natural gas usage realized. For fiscal 2025, natural gas usage per square foot of campus it shows a 24% decrease from the benchmark year of fiscal 2021 and a 18% decrease from last fiscal year.

ASU set a goal of reducing its water usage by 6% over a six-year span having fiscal 2022 be its benchmark. Reporting has shown a 50% decrease in usage in fiscal 2025 as compared with the benchmark year. But it is thought there is a flaw in the new software, so more detailed investigation is checking these numbers. The university has been trying to cut usage and implement saving practices, but that significant of a decrease in use raises suspicion on the accuracy of the reporting.

For transportation fuels, ASU has adopted miles per gallon as the standard gauge of fuel efficiency. There was a 21% increase in the fuel efficiency of the fleet vehicles in fiscal 2025 with the miles per gallon being 11.9 as compared with 9.8 in the benchmark year of fiscal 2022.

Table II: Campus Utility Usage and Fuel Economy of the Fleet (Fiscal 2010-Fiscal 2025)

Utility Usage	Fiscal 2010	Fiscal 2015	Fiscal 2020	Fiscal 2021	Fiscal 2022	Fiscal 2023	Fiscal 2024	Fiscal 2025
Electricity - kwh/sq. ft.	18.02	17.76	15.88	15.26	16.11	14.73	15.65	14.69
Natural Gas - mcf/sq. ft.	0.0287	0.0217	0.0226	0.0247	0.0212	0.0238	0.0229	0.0187
Water/Sewer - 1,000gal/sq. ft.	0.0637	0.0534	0.0559	0.0604	0.0678	0.0626	0.0427	0.0336
Vehicle Fuel - gallon/mile	10.897				9.818			11.948

STRATEGY FOR ACHIEVING GOALS

1. Replaced HVAC systems throughout campus with more efficient models. ASU has more than 100 buildings with only one building using older R22 systems. Both in-house employees and contractors replaced more than 600 HVAC systems over the past 10 years.
2. Maintained consistent temperatures across campus and didn't deviate to please individuals. The university has changed the original set points in order to save even more energy. ASU maintains set points of 74 degrees for cooling and 68 degrees for heating and implements new control system on campus to maintain temperatures in rooms.
3. Eliminated use of personal space heaters. ASU educates employees on safety concerns and inefficiencies and encourages people to turn in fellow employees using space heaters.
4. Closely monitored the utility meters for discrepancies and unexpected usage amounts. Verified anomalies and corrected problems using EnergyCAP software.
5. Continually replaced light fixtures with LED lighting to reduce electricity use.
6. Replaced boilers and chillers in the Central Plant with more efficient units.
7. Took advantage of programs such as SCORE Program discounts and rebates on lighting products and energy benchmarking reports on buildings to use in justifying needed expenditures in building improvements.
8. Continued to expand use of lithium powered electric carts which lowers the dependency on gasoline powered vehicles. ASU has 60 golf carts with 24 of them having been converted to lithium batteries. The plan is to convert another 10 in fiscal 2026 and rely on them more than traditional vehicles.

IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

The implementation schedule for cost reduction is dependent on the availability of technicians to install cost reduction measures. As time and funding are available, the university will purchase items that could result in cost savings. To track these measures, ASU will monitor the utility use for the areas of implementation. Installed software systems for both the utility billing and the controls of heating and cooling on campus should greatly improve our ability to monitor all of our utility usage.

AGENCY FINANCE STRATEGY

Angelo State University is planning a $36 million Capital Construction Assistance Project-funded upgrade to the Central Plant infrastructure for fiscal 2025 and 2026. The details of the project were mentioned in the Progress Report section.

Each year, ASU receives rebates from energy savings that are tracked through the SCORE & SEM program mentioned in the Progress Report section. In fiscal 2025, ASU received more than $44,000 from this program.

Angelo State University continues to take advantage of electrical provider incentive programs such as the Midstream program to lower the cost of LED lighting technology that makes upgrading to LED lights more cost efficient than replacing broken bulbs/fixtures with old technology. This lowers the cost of bulbs and fixtures by as much as 80% when ASU makes a purchase and doesn’t require any upfront cost by the university to receive a rebate at a later time.

ASU also replaces high utility use equipment with the most efficient/best value for the state. The lighting projects are done as technicians have the time to do the work, so there is not a set dollar amount and the parts are bought as needed.

EMPLOYEE AWARENESS PLAN

ASU raises employee awareness by informing and training personnel to turn off computers, monitors, printers and other energy-using devices when not in use and overnight/weekends.

The Student Government Association has maintained a student-led energy conservation effort in the dormitories for more than 10 years. The program teaches students to be good stewards of their resources by turning off lights, setting air conditioning to reasonable temperatures and taking other simple energy saving steps.

Angelo State University publishes a link to its energy report each year on its State Energy Savings Program webpage.