Energy Conservation and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation at Caltech

John Onderdonk, LEED® AP, California Institute of Technology
Matthew Berbée, C.E.M., California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology is demonstrating that greenhouse gas mitigation coupled with energy conservation is a self-sustaining strategy.

In 2008, a committee of faculty, staff, and students developed a climate action plan that, if implemented, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. The foundation of the plan is an aggressive five-year campaign to retro-commission (RCx) all sixty existing laboratory buildings on campus.

Using the Broad Center (a 125,500-square-foot biology laboratory) as a case study, the presentation will describe California Institute of Technology's custom approach to RCx that will result in a Labs21 baseline improvement of 386 kilo British thermal units (kbtu)/square foot/year, a 40 percent reduction in total building energy consumption. Following International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol compliant measurement and verification, annual savings include:

A key value proposition of RCx is the ability to identify low-cost/no-cost facility energy efficiency measures that can be implemented immediately, which enables the California Institute of Technology to realize savings before the detailed RCx investigation has even begun. The real value of an energy conservation measure is not found in the initial implementation but rather in the return to the owner over time.

By emphasizing information sharing, self validation, and flexibility, the project team is able to aggressively approach the energy potential in a building. For example, the mechanical and energy services groups work with in-house staff to monitor, survey, and propose conservation opportunities. These opportunities are modeled, measured, and acted on through the utilities support services and information is sent to the RCx consultant to incorporate into the planning stage of RCx. Baseline data is obtained by accurately mapping the building load profile (electricity, chilled water, and steam).

To create additional value, the California Institute of Technology partnered with an Enterprise Energy Management (EEM) solution provider to couple IT and Energy Management.The EEM solution combines basic energy usage information with select data from building management systems, fault-detection checks, air-flow-control systems, and weather data to get the right information, to the right people, at the right time, to make the right decision and sustain the return on efficiency.

Enabling energy efficiency investments is another area where the California Institute of Technology has been innovative and is achieving results.The Caltech Energy Conservation Investment Program (CECIP) combines the power of real-time performance tracking with an ambitious energy-efficiency capital investment program financed by avoided costs. Once the loan is repaid, the savings accrue directly to the California Institute of Technology.

Biographies:

John Onderdonk serves as the manager for sustainability programs at the California Institute of Technology where he is developing and managing programs to improve environmental performance in the areas of energy, climate, water, waste, supply chain, transportation, and building infrastructure. Prior to joining the California Institute of Technology, Mr. Onderdonk worked in the environmental risk management field serving as the southwest regional manager for AIG Environmental where he developed liability transfer programs for Brownfield redevelopment clients. Mr. Onderdonk has also worked as an environmental consultant helping corporate clients integrate sustainability into their business practices and address environmental regulations. Mr. Onderdonk holds a masters degree in corporate environmental management from the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelors of Science in environmental science from the University of Oregon. Mr. Onderdonk is a certified carbon reduction manager and a LEED Accredited Professional.

Matthew Berbée is currently serving as the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)'s energy manager. His responsibilities include all facets of energy management at the campus; specifically: management of the Campus Retro-Commissioning Program, the LEED for Existing Buildings program, and technical management of the Caltech Energy Conservation Investment Program. Before joining Caltech, Mr. Berbée was responsible for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Energy Management Program. Mr. Berbée is a Certified Energy Manager (C.E.M.) with a master's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from California State Polytechnic University Pomona.