PROGRESS REPORT
In fiscal 2024, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston appointed an energy manager to focus on reducing energy usage across campus. This has been a goal of ours and a role that was missing in the past. Compliance and safety are still the main focus of the majority of the team, but this energy manager will focus on energy efficiency and the buildings. This will help us accomplish our future goals.
Our Chilled Water Optimization program is continuing to show good results. We did encounter some issues this year at our West Plant facility where the variable frequency drives are limited to certain ranges due to the current pump/motor combination. We are addressing this by replacing the pumps in fiscal 2025 or 2026, depending on delivery times. This will allow continual optimization in the West Plant.
The funding for the condensate project fell through, so we are adjusting course and coming up with new funding. We are hopeful this will be complete by fiscal 2026.
We made significant progress in our Fault Detection program. We have run three pilot programs and are liking the progress we have with Clockworks Analytics. The system is running diagnostics to continually identify potential control problems and alerts to our energy manger. We can then push a work order out through our system to get a technician to investigate and repair the issue. This is a huge improvement from previous retro commissioning efforts.
GOALS
Moving forward, our goal is to build a larger Energy Management team under the new manager. This will include a dedicate building automation specialist, instrumentation technician and engineering support. We plan to expand our fault detection by adding three buildings per year to the system. We want to focus on the demand side of our energy usage at the building level.
We will be transitioning out of the Central Plant and away from aging equipment still on R22. We are in the design phase of expanding our East Plant and will be purchasing the chillers this fall. This will be the first step in getting out of the old Central Plant. This will allow us to have more energy-efficient production once the project is complete.
We are in the beginning talks of a waste water treatment partnership with the city of Galveston that could significantly reduce our process water and irrigation usage. This will take time, but shows a lot of potential to achieve our goals.
Our fleet goal is still to transition half of our fleet to alternate fuel by 2030; we are working on funding for this.
| Utility | Target Year | Benchmark Year | Percentage Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 2030 | 2020 | 5 |
| Electricity | 2030 | 2020 | 5 |
| Transportation Fuels | 2030 | 2020 | 5 |
| Natural Gas | 2030 | 2020 | 5 |
STRATEGY FOR ACHIEVING GOALS
Our strategy for achieving water goals are increasing the condensate return through repairs and reconfiguration along with partnering with the city of Galveston for waste water to be used for process water.
For electricity and natural gas, we are taking an incremental approach. The fault detection and continuous commissioning is moving us toward the goal, and replacement of aging equipment at the Central Plant should also help us reach that goal. Reduction on the demand side is critical.
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
Fiscal 2025 will see progress on the fault detection expansion and East Plant design. The installation and completion of larger projects like East Plant and the condensate return repairs will likely be fiscal 2026.
We have a significant number of capital renewal projects that are improving energy efficiency in the buildings. A detailed list can be provided upon request.
AGENCY FINANCE STRATEGY
Capital has been secured for the next five years for capital renewal projects to replace aging or broken equipment in the buildings. We also received funding for the East Plant expansion. We are reinvesting operational savings from prior year energy reductions.
EMPLOYEE AWARENESS PLAN
We use weekly notifications to reach out to the employees and students with new information; monthly updates to leadership also occur. We have a program manager who reaches out to each department every year on a sustainability cooperative approach, and we host Earth Day events to push sustainability goals.
