PROGRESS REPORT
LED Retrofits
LED lighting continues to be installed throughout the campus. The Activities Center, Business Services Annex, Chisholm Hall, North Thermal Energy Plant, Multidisciplinary Building, Rec Wellness Center and various campus dining facilities have all undergone LED lighting upgrades.
Main Campus Demand Response Program
Demand response strategies are used to support ERCOT's load-shedding requirements. Ongoing participation at Main Campus in the CPS Energy Demand Response Program resulted in a load shed of 664 kW during summer response events. As a result, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will receive a $46,511 incentive payment. As part of the program, a variety of adjustments are made where feasible, including chiller supply temperature, cold deck supply temperature, duct static pressure, supply and exhaust/return fan speeds, and room temperature.
Department of Energy and Sustainability
Leadership has merged the Department of Sustainability and the Department of Energy and Utilities to create a new Department of Energy and Sustainability, led by a new executive director. This restructuring aligns common objectives between sustainability and energy management and provides additional resources for both areas. Energy Management will now have a stronger platform to advocate for policies, funding and awareness-raising for energy and water-saving measures through the Sustainability Council.
Student Assistance
Student workers continue to support energy management efforts. Currently, two workers are compiling utility data to analyze trends and identify areas for improvement. Specifically, they are compiling data from digital electrical meters and the campus building automation system into a workflow for regular trend analysis, which will inform operations and identify reduction opportunities. Additionally, the utility analyst intern continues to support the billing process and streamline billing practices.
New Construction
Blanco Hall, San Pedro II and the volleyball and basketball practice facility are currently under construction. Blanco Hall is poised to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, while San Pedro II is on track for LEED Gold. Specific improvement strategies include exhaust air energy recovery, demand control ventilation, solar photovoltaic systems, cooling coil condensate reclaim and automated demand response controls. These buildings, along with several other HVAC replacement and upgrade projects across campus, are eligible for CPS energy efficiency rebates. A 58 kW solar array installed at the new San Pedro I building in downtown San Antonio saved $8,300 in 2024 and is offsetting 3 percent of the building's electrical use.
Energy Performance Contracts
Leadership is currently negotiating a contract with an engineering and energy services company (ESCO), selected from a competitive procurement process started in fiscal 2024. In collaboration with this consultant, the Department of Energy and Sustainability will build on student worker efforts to create a data analysis platform for ongoing building retro-commissioning and savings tracking.
Hemisfair Park Campus
Staff identified and repaired various water leaks during the summer of 2023. This resulted in measured savings of 8.1 million gallons of water and $84k in cost savings. The Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) is currently being relocated, and the existing building is being decommissioned.
The cooling tower and hot water distribution pumps were replaced at the Downtown Campus. This central system, which serves the Buena Vista Street Building, Frio Street Building and Durango Building, has a capacity of 2,000 tons. The 400-ton cooling tower serving Chisholm Hall and the Activities Center was also replaced. Staff will monitor these facilities for energy and water performance to assess efficiency gains.
Science Research Labs Air-Cooled Chiller Retrofit
Air-cooled chillers were upgraded, and staff will monitor energy performance to determine the savings achieved.
BSE HVAC Retrofits
The Bio Sciences and Engineering (BSE) building is undergoing an HVAC retrofit, which involves converting fume hoods to variable air volume (VAV) and reducing the number of air changes. This work began in 2023. The ground floor has been completed, and additional floors will continue to receive similar upgrades. The current estimate is an 18 percent efficiency improvement in heating and cooling energy.
GOALS
Utility Target Year Benchmark Year Percentage Goal
Water 2031 2021 3-5 percent reduction in water use intensities (WUI)
Electricity 2031 2021 5 percent reduction in energy use intensities (EUI)
Transportation Fuels N/A N/A N/A
Natural Gas 2031 2021 5 percent reduction in EUI
| Utility | Target Year | Benchmark Year | Percentage Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 2031 | 2021 | 3 |
| Electricity | 2031 | 2020 | 5 |
| Transportation Fuels | 2031 | 2021 | 3 |
| Natural Gas | 2031 | 2021 | 5 |
STRATEGY FOR ACHIEVING GOALS
Demand Response Program
UTSA will continue participating in the CPS Energy Demand Response Program. We are exploring opportunities to join the winter demand response program offered by CPS Energy. The Downtown Campus may also be added to the program, depending on staffing resources. As part of our standards development, we will implement a standard demand response mode for all new building automation systems.
Department of Energy and Sustainability
We are collaborating with leadership to set net-zero energy and water goals for UTSA. Over the next year, we plan to expand the existing Sustainability Council to include additional stakeholders, who will help develop policy and engage faculty, students and staff in user behavior change initiatives. We are also working to establish a renewable funding source for energy and water efficiency projects.
New Construction
Major capital projects will be required to achieve a minimum of LEED Silver certification. We have developed a key performance indicator (KPI) process to establish energy and water savings in design and track these savings through operations. A key initiative this year will be integrating this process into the facility new construction standards. We also plan to require post-occupancy monitoring and commissioning to ensure that projected savings are achieved for both new construction and renovation projects. UTSA complies with the State Energy Conservation Office's energy and water design standards in all new buildings to ensure efficient operations.
Energy Performance Contracts
As noted above, the Office of Energy and Sustainability is developing a platform to analyze energy, water and building operating data. This platform will be used to identify and prioritize reduction opportunities based on energy savings and first-cost considerations. Given the significant deferred maintenance needs across campus, we will also take end-of-life horizons into account. We will work with the energy performance contractor to develop measures addressing our priorities. The data platform will establish usage trends, inform right sizing and support innovative retrofitting, enabling data-driven decisions instead of simply replacing systems in-kind. Where possible, we will also explore the use of heat pumps and energy recovery, first focusing on reducing heating, cooling and electrical loads. The data platform will also track installed measures to ensure the projected savings are realized.
Some strategies to consider include, but are not limited to, the following:
- LED lighting retrofits.
- HVAC replacements and upgrades.
- Controls replacements and upgrades.
- Envelope replacements, including roof upgrades and window replacements.
- Distributed solar, submetered to avoid masking other building inefficiencies.
- Cooling coil condensate recovery.
- Plumbing fixture upgrades.
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
Demand Response Programs
We will review joining CPS Energy's winter demand response program over the next few weeks. In parallel, we will also consider adding the Downtown Campus to the existing demand response program.
New Construction
Blanco Hall is scheduled to open on July 31, 2025, followed shortly by San Pedro II on Jan. 16, 2026. The volleyball and basketball training facility is projected to open on Aug. 24, 2026. Each project includes provisions for monitoring and tracking building data. Some integration will be required as the internal data platform for tracking building performance is still under development.
Energy Performance Contracts
We plan to complete contract negotiations and finish a preliminary assessment of the campus before the end of 2024. The assessment will include a submetering expansion plan, an outline of key data platform features and a rough order of magnitude assessment of reduction opportunities for Auxiliary Services. We aim to implement the submetering expansion plan and platform features in the spring, with retro-commissioning and low-cost upgrades beginning by the summer. This will enable us to identify major infrastructure projects starting in fiscal 2026.
AGENCY FINANCE STRATEGY
The engineering and construction costs for the energy performance work are still being determined. This may be supported through an Energy Performance Contract, which would cover the costs with the resulting energy savings over the life of the upgrade. Alternatively, deferred maintenance funds could be used. We estimate a cost of roughly half a million dollars for fiscal 2025 to support data platform development and submetering implementation. The following strategies will be used to fund our initiatives.
Utility savings and rebates have been, and will continue to be, used to fund conservation projects. These savings help keep utility costs low and fund future projects. A demand response incentive of $46,500 is estimated to be awarded, with funds deposited into the Utility Reserve account.
Utility budget performance is monitored through utility KPIs, which are reported quarterly during performance review meetings with facilities management to discuss outcomes. Metrics such as the Energy Utilization Index, Water Use Index, Energy Rates, Water Rates, Total Utility Cost and Budget-to-Actual performance are reported. For fiscal 2024, there was a utility budget surplus compared to actual usage.
UTSA takes advantage of an early payment discount from Win-Sam Inc., our third-party energy plant operator. A savings of $8,400 was realized in fiscal 2024.
Deferred Maintenance and LERR (Library Equipment Repair and Replacement) funding will continue to be proposed for conservation projects based on their benefits to the university. The South Thermal Energy Plant boiler addition project received $1.5 million from the University of Texas System Equipment Finance Program, which utilizes revenue financing debt as an alternative to vendor lease-purchase financing. This funding enabled the purchase of a higher-efficiency boiler, expected to generate utility savings.
The Capital Improvement Project (CIP) fund is used at the Thermal Energy Plants to upgrade obsolete equipment. UTSA invests in this mechanism to expedite repairs or replacements of aging equipment. In 2024, $300,000 was used to repair two malfunctioning condenser water pumps.
Opportunities such as 179D tax deductions and other recent tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act are considered as potential funding sources when reviewing energy projects.
A grant funding process is currently under development, along with ongoing grant submissions for alternative funding to support efficiency and environmental improvements.
The cost of the Energy Performance Contract will be recouped through the resulting energy savings over the life of the contract.
CPS Energy offers rebates for retro-commissioning, which could potentially cover 100 percent of the cost of these services.
EMPLOYEE AWARENESS PLAN
Part of our platform development will include dashboards for Facilities to use, providing additional insights into operations. We will also leverage the Sustainability Council to educate faculty, students and staff, adjusting policy as needed. The Sustainability team will partner with others to run awareness campaigns for various reduction initiatives.
Facilities staff training will be conducted to demonstrate how their actions impact costs. Facilities staff have direct access to energy operations and are uniquely positioned to identify areas of inefficiency due to their access to energy production and conversion systems. Additionally, a well-informed Facilities team can offer valuable conservation suggestions for new construction and renovation projects, contributing to more efficient growth as UTSA continues to expand.
Non-E and G (Educational and General) customers continue to receive monthly reports detailing their cost and consumption trends compared to the previous month and year to evaluate performance. With the upgraded data platform, these agencies will have access to critical information and feedback. We are also encouraging their participation in the Sustainability Council.
UTSA participates in awareness campaigns such as Energy Awareness Month and Earth Day by supporting the Student Government, setting up awareness booths and joining planning committees.
The Office of Energy and Sustainability conducts tours of mechanical systems for student organizations such as ASHRAE, ASME and the College of Engineering and Integrated Design's Masters in Facilities Management program.
The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) report was completed in 2016, 2020 and 2023 to assess UTSA's sustainability ranking. The 2016 assessment yielded a Bronze designation, the 2020 assessment earned a Silver designation and the 2023 assessment achieved a Gold designation. This assessment serves as both an educational and awareness tool for students and a way to share information within the UTSA community.
The Office of Sustainability continues to participate in this assessment and coordinates with various campus offices to complete the process.
Electrical trend data are monitored for late night spikes attributed to chiller changes at the thermal energy plant. Operator training has been conducted to raise awareness of this impact, and sequencing has been adjusted to eliminate unnecessary demand spikes.
