Texas A&M Campus Tune-Up

Conserves Energy and Money

Texas A&M University’s main campus is about a mile square, serving

44,500 students, a population larger than many American towns. With

15 million square feet of building space, the university has enormous

energy requirements. To contain energy costs, Texas A&M invested in

building control upgrades and utility plant retrofits. Additionally, the

university implemented a commissioning program that has achieved Texassized savings by optimizing the operation of campus utility plants and

building energy systems.

Commissioning involves testing, monitoring and adjusting a building’s

HVAC, controls and other systems to ensure high-performance operation. It’s

the building equivalent of an automobile tune-up. The process can be applied

to newly constructed or existing buildings, as well as to central utility-plant

operation.

Bahman Yazdani, with Texas A&M, explains that buildings often go

through various changes that affect operational requirements. The building

may have fewer occupants, the energy management system could be

different, or energy-efficient windows may have been installed. These, along

with a number of other changes, need to be taken into account to ensure that

a building’s systems are operating at their best performance. 

Continued on page 9

PARTNER UPDATE

Rebuild America

Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program DOE/EE-0287 • September – October 2003

Rural Idaho Schools

Turn to Performance

Contracts to Save

S

everal small school districts in Idaho

are financing capital improvements

through energy performance contracts.

By paying for improvements through future

utility savings, these schools are improving

learning environments without breaking

their budgets. 

Jerome School District, about 100 miles

southeast of Boise, teamed up with Rebuild

America last year to pursue energy-saving

improvements by using performance

contracting. Rebuild Idaho, which

introduced the rural school district to

Rebuild America, provided assistance with

the request for contractor qualifications.

The school district signed a contract with an

energy services company (ESCO), Chevron

Energy Solutions, to improve mechanical

systems and install energy-efficient lighting. 

The mechanical and lighting

improvements, which were completed last

winter, are estimated to produce 25 percent

savings annually. 

At the middle and high schools, T-12

In This Issue

Students Take Action

Water Plant Upgrades

Tech: Top Software

Tech: Top Housing

Schools Save Cheaply

Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable

Continued on page 2

3

4

5

6

8

The administration building at Texas A&M University’s main campus.
2 PARTNER UPDATE • September – October 2003

fluorescent lamps with magnetic ballasts were replaced with

more efficient T-8 lamps with electronic ballasts. Energywasting incandescent light bulbs were replaced with

compact fluorescent lights.

The ESCO would only guarantee savings if the school

district hired an onsite Resource Conservation Manager

(RCM) to monitor HVAC systems and adjust controls to

ensure optimum operational efficiency. 

Rick Ames, the RCM, walks through the facilities each day

to verify that systems are working properly. Twice a month,

Ames meets with a representative from the ESCO to receive

ongoing training. He also searches for additional

opportunities to save energy and encourages staff to look for

and reduce unnecessary energy consumption. 

The behavioral portion of the performance contract is

estimated to reduce energy costs by an additional 5 percent

each year.

Outside of the performance contract, Ames, who also

serves as the school system’s maintenance director, has been

saving energy at an aging elementary school by reducing

excessive lighting. Because the school may be replaced

within ten years, it was not included in the performance

contract. Ames used a light meter to identify areas of the

school that were over-lit and then reduced the lighting in

those spaces. Last year, 25,000 watts of lamps were removed.

The school district also de-lamped 19 vending machines, and

removed one that was seldom used, to save more energy.

The school district is also expanding the library at its high

school by 6,000 square feet, financed through a gift from

Evelyn Crowder, who included the school district in her will.

Crowder – who had been a teacher in California, but retired

in Idaho – bequeathed $1 million to the school district for

the library. 

Ames, working with LKV Architects of Boise, is advocating

a design that can meet the requirements of the LEED

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green

Building Rating SystemTM. He envisions the addition as a

model for energy-efficient building for the school district.

Preliminary plans call for high-performance windows, extra

insulation in the walls and ceiling, and an abundant use of

natural light. Ames explains that this will reduce operational

costs for the addition. 

For more information, contact Sue Seifert at

sseifert@idwr.state.id.us.

Idaho Schools

continued from page 1

The Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools

have been recognized with a communications award from

the International Association of Business Communicators

(IABC), U.S. District 5. The design guidelines – seven

booklets that address energy-efficient design for specific

climates – received a Silver Quill award at a ceremony on

October 2 during the IABC U.S. District 5 conference in

Austin, Texas.

The guidelines, and the supporting technical document

National Best Practices Manual for Building High Performance

Schools, were released last year to help K-12 schools

improve learning environments through energy-saving

design. Each publication is written for architects, planners,

administrators, facility maintenance professionals and

others who influence design decisions for new school

construction and renovation. They were developed by the

National Renewable Energy Laboratory with subcontractor

Innovative Design and the assistance of a host of specialists

inside and outside government.

The booklets and manual can be downloaded separately

via the Rebuild America Web site at

http://www.rebuild.org/sectors/k12_resources.asp. 

They also are available on a single CD through Rebuild

America at http://www.rebuild.org/lawson/

SC_attachmentView.asp?attachmentID=1440.

School Design Guidelines Honored
If anyone needed a reminder of the value of energy

efficiency, they got it Aug. 14 when a massive blackout

cascaded through the U.S. Northeast and Ontario.

Although the Northeast grid wasn't at peak demand

regionwide that afternoon, a regional average is beside the

point. All that is necessary for such a blackout is that some

parts of the grid be overstrained. When a few generators or

transmission lines shut down, power load is transferred to

other nearby parts of the grid. If spare capacity is inadequate

in those nearby segments, they in turn can be overburdened

and shut down. The cascade gets rolling.

There are two ways to make sure enough spare capacity is

maintained to minimize the risk of blackouts: Build enough

power supply, and restrain demand via energy efficiency.

Look at what Rebuild America is doing in northern Ohio,

and think about what could have been prevented if our

projects were multiplied sufficiently.

In Canton, virtually the epicenter of the blackout, the Stark

Metropolitan Housing Authority has been reducing energy

use while keeping residents comfortable in public housing.

Efficiency measures there are saving 1.7 billion Btu annually.

Also in Canton, microturbines in a school swimming

facility are demonstrating what can be done with smart forms

of distributed generation. In a project partly funded by DOE,

two microturbines installed this year in the C.T. Branin

Natatorium can generate 56 kilowatts of electricity while their

exhaust to heats pool water and drives a part of the building’s

air-conditioning system. That combined heat and power

(CHP) approach makes the microturbines far more efficient

than otherwise. DOE’s EERE focuses on distributed generation

as part of its electric reliability program.

In Cleveland, a 92-year-old office building was retrofitted

by the Cleveland Green Building Coalition. It appears to be

likely to achieve an energy efficiency 67 percent greater than

what would have resulted from a conventional renovation.

Multiply such government and private-sector projects

enough times and they will make a difference. They will not

stop tree branches from falling on wires, nor will they make

every valve at a power plant function smoothly, nor will they

bring an end to human error. But by reducing the burden on

the power system in one community after another, they will

add to the margin of safety keeping all of us in the light

rather than the dark.

Dan Sze is National Program Manager of Rebuild America. Your

comments are always welcome at danielsze@rebuild.org.

View From DC 

by Daniel Sze

September – October 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 3

Students Save Energy

in Schools Across U.S.

The students patrol rooms and corridors in search of

energy waste. They stop what waste they can – such as

by lowering thermostats to their best settings – report

what they find, analyze energy consumption and propose

operational and technological improvements. In elementary,

middle and high schools around the country, students are

making large and small differences that save energy and

money.

Equally important, they are learning. Some of them may

go on to become the energy technologists and energyefficient managers of tomorrow.

Three Rebuild America Strategic Partners especially

contribute to these EnergySmart Schools extracurricular

programs – the National Energy Foundation (NEF), the

National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project and

the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE). A Business Partner,

Johnson Controls, also is active in supporting such

programs, especially in collaboration with NEF.

Hundreds of Patrols

The student activities probably are far more widespread

than most people realize. NEF reports that there are

hundreds of student energy patrols functioning around the

country on their own. NEF tracks its training of educators,

but no one tracks the nationwide energy-efficiency activities

of students outside of classroom assignments.

Every now and then, the student work captures the

attention of others. Earlier this year, American School Board

Journal honored Pasco County Schools in Florida with a

Magna Award for the school district’s “energy patrol”

program, involving about 500 students in elementary and

middle schools. The Pasco school district is a Rebuild

America partner through the Educational Energy Managers

Association of Florida.

In Arkansas

Demonstrations of the value of the programs keep

appearing. In Arkansas, a two-year program of student

patrols has documented energy savings of more than

$21,000 in five elementary schools. The program was the

work of the Arkansas Energy Office, Rebuild Arkansas,

Johnson Controls and NEF.

Here is how Markey Ford, energy education coordinator of

the Arkansas Energy Office, describes the program activities:

Continued on page 9
4 PARTNER UPDATE • September – October 2003

Wisconsin Program

Makes a Big Splash

with Water Treatment

The Wisconsin Department of Administration’s

Division of Energy never dreamed that success could

come so quickly in the water and wastewater

treatment sector. 

As operator of the Focus on Energy public benefits

program – the partnership for all Rebuild America activity in

the state – the division had the challenge of creating market

transformation in this historically overlooked sector. The key

was to involve those who could benefit most. Trade

organizations and vendors were waiting for an opportunity

like this. The Division of Energy merely created the

infrastructure to set it in motion.

With energy costs rising and state payments to local

governments decreasing, saving energy is an effective way to

cut costs for a critical operation where product quality

cannot be compromised.

Oversized, Underautomated

Through a series of visits to facilities across the state,

Water and Wastewater Program lead Joe Cantwell quickly

realized how beneficial the program could be. 

“Many of the facilities I visited were using oversized

equipment designed to meet peak load demands, with no

way of efficiently scaling back the operation on a typical

day,” he said. “Some plants were oversized as much as 50

percent.” 

Additionally, Cantwell found that automated control

systems were often outdated or did not exist at all. 

The participating facilities each received descriptions of

plant improvements that would save energy, and most have

chosen to install at least some of the equipment

recommended by Focus on Energy. Many of the program’s

best suggestions have been incorporated without a large

capital expenditure. 

During presentations, Cantwell would ask for a show of

hands about how many operators reviewed their monthly

utility bill, often finding less than five in 100 would raise

their hand. It turned out that most administrators in a water

utility would just pay the bill, and the operator would never

see it. Cantwell made it a priority to convey the importance

of demand-side management.

Another key to setting up a successful program in this

sector is to get one project completed to show the benefits

to others via case study. Word of mouth advertising was very

effective in communicating program benefits in this small

and targeted sector. 

However, there are always barriers to overcome. The

largest barrier may be the reduction of state subsidies to

local government operations to cover budget deficits. Most

local governments are extremely cautious about making

large capital expenditures in this financially constrained era.

Paybacks of three years are considered too long even though

the operation will run 365 days per year for at least a

generation of their citizens.

Nevertheless, getting one project written up with verified

energy and economic savings details, preferably monitored,

will go a long way toward helping to convince a utility

board to move forward with the best practices.

“This program is a win-win for local taxpayers by reducing

operating costs, thereby reducing local property taxes,” says

Peter Bock, Division of Energy administrator.

Including All Players

Due to the successes of the first Water and Wastewater

Program participants, demand for program services quickly

escalated. To meet the growing demand, Focus on Energy

teamed with the non-profit Wisconsin Rural Water

Association (WRWA), which adopted the newly created

Focus on Energy best practices. 

The program is being welcomed by municipal utilities,

which are saving, on average, 30 to 65 percent on their

utility bills, according to Terry Pease, program manager for

• Aeration system uses fine bubble diffusers

• Aeration blowers are automatically controlled using DO 

sensors and VSDs

• A heat recovery system is on anaerobic digester

• Aeration basins are shut off when not needed

• Aeration system is properly sized

• Aeration diffusers are arranged in the most effective way 

to meet loading requirements

• Anaerobic digester operating is at its optimum temperature

• Recover and use biogas from anaerobic digester

• Dewater sludge to make more biogas in the digester

• Have sufficient storage (flow equalization) for influent to 

minimize on-peak processing and use storage effectively

• Have an emergency premium efficiency motor replacement plan

• Pumps are sized correctly for their application and loading and

system is optimized

• High-efficiency motors and matched pumps are a critical part of any

life-cycle replacement strategy

BEST PRACTICES FOR EXISTING SYSTEMS

Continued on page 5
“The version that is on the street right now has over 3,200

users,” Crawley adds.

Those users are scattered around the world. The software

has been employed in the designs of a Holiday Inn in

Shanghai, a hospital in Dublin and a Grand Hyatt in Beijing.

In the United States, a prominent application of EnergyPlus

is in the design of a federal office building to be constructed

in San Francisco. The results of EnergyPlus modeling will save

$9 million in energy over 20 years at that building, according

to Tim Christ, project manager for the building’s lead design

firm, Morphosis. 

Thanks to EnergyPlus, planners said, the building will rely

primarily on natural airflow for ventilation and cooling, with

office space and false ceilings designed to allow as much free

airflow as practical. The building also will use exposed ceiling

slabs to absorb excess heat during hot days and dissipate that

stored heat at night when the air is cooler.

Along with such heat absorption and release, the software

can incorporate moisture absorption and desorption. And for

its various factors it can break down projections into subhourly time steps.

Other aspects of the software may be familiar to companies

that have tried less-advanced design programs, such as the

capacity to plug in local financial factors. Like any energy-use

program, it can be adapted to utility costs, Crawley says.

A new version of EnergyPlus, designated 1.1.1, was released

in mid-September. But it still does not have a highly userfriendly interface. Several companies are trying to develop

graphical interfaces for it, and Crawley says, “I think that’s

going to help users more than anything else.”

Crawley recently tried out the graphical interface being

developed by a British company named DesignBuilder, and

he was impressed, saying, “It was just amazing.”

For more information, contact Dru Crawley, 202-586-2344,

email drury.crawley@ee.doe.gov. To obtain a copy of

EnergyPlus, visit www.energyplus.gov.

Advanced software for the design of energy-efficient

buildings has reached a level of sophistication that

allows designers to account for such factors as natural

airflow through open windows and the light reflecting down

light pipes. Those factors and more can be plugged into

calculations using EnergyPlus, one of the latest products

from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and its

partners in research and development.

LBNL teamed up with the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and the U.S. Army Construction Engineering

Research Laboratory to create the software, with funding

from the Building Technologies Program within the U.S.

Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and

Renewable Energy.

Some of the simpler aspects of EnergyPlus could be used

by architects, but the complexity of it makes it more of an

engineer’s program, says Dru Crawley of the Building

Technologies Program. 

Such complex software can rarely be justified for small

buildings, according to Crawley. But it has much potential

for Rebuild America projects and other work involving

extensive renovations or new-building designs for large

structures, he says.

Quite a few people obviously think it can be useful. More

than 12,000 copies of EnergyPlus have been downloaded

since it was released in April 2001. It helps that the software

is free.

September – October 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 5

Wisconsin Water

continued from page 4

TECHNOLOGY

EnergyPlus Software

Works at Cutting Edge

of Building Design

the Division of Energy.

Ken Blomberg, director of WRWA, realized the potential

benefits for his members and allowed Focus on Energy to

train his field staff. Equipment and service suppliers also

welcomed the additional work being created.

“We saw it was vital to include all the players in this

sector, allowing the ideas promoted by Focus on Energy to

continue after the program has stepped out,” Pease says.

On another front, Focus on Energy began working with

the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in two areas:

new operator training and new facility design. With

assistance from the state’s technical college system, courses

are being adapted to include energy-management curricula

in certification training. 

The Department of Natural Resources also agreed to allow

a review of new-facility code compliance with emphasis on

changing the 20-year growth plan to avoid the oversizing

observed during facility visits.

“It became evident that we needed to change the 20-year

plan to allow for system add-ons over time in proportion to

a community’s growth,” concludes Pease.

For more information, call Focus on Energy at 

608-266-8234 or visit www.focusonenergy.com.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and two Building

America project teams are monitoring a house they built

that is stuffed to the rooftop with energy-saving

technologies. It is the first in a planned series of six test

houses with the goal of eventually building a structure that

has zero net energy consumption.

The first house, a Habitat for Humanity home in Lenoir

City, TN, is proving itself a champ. The average cost per day

was 87 cents for the first 304 days of careful monitoring –

Nov. 15 to Sept. 9 – for all energy including plug loads for

this 1,067-square-foot house, occupied by a family of four.

The house’s energy efficiency is about 50 percent “better

than code,” a short way of saying better than what would

satisfy the International Energy Conservation Code. That

was the performance during those first 304 days of

operation, says Jeff Christian, director of ORNL’s Buildings

Technology Center.

6 PARTNER UPDATE • September – October 2003

Two more test houses were under construction in

September. For those, the intention is to achieve an

efficiency 60 percent better than code. Another two houses

are in planning stages, with the idea of boosting efficiency

to 70 percent better than code. The sixth house is intended

to attain zero net energy on an annual basis. 

For all of the houses, corporate and Building America

partners are making significant contributions, either in

planning or contributing resources.

Single-family stand-alone houses are being built for the

research, but many of the design concepts and technology

components are applicable to multifamily housing and small

commercial buildings within the domain of Rebuild

America, says Christian.

Parts of the Whole

Christian stresses that the idea is to integrate compatible

systems into a unified whole – to take a systems approach.

But some of the centrally important elements are:

• Airtight envelope – roof, walls, windows and foundation

• Mechanical ventilation meeting ASHRAE standard 62P

• Ducts that are inside conditioned space

• Careful orientation along with placement and selection

of energy-efficient windows

For airtightness, the first test house has structural insulated

panels (SIPs) made of expanded polystyrene with a 1-pound

density.

“SIPs are not the only way of getting airtight construction

there,” Christian says. He adds, “We have tested some 200

different types of wall constructions

in our laboratory.”

The SIP floor panels on the

underside of the first floor have a

white metal laminate, forming the

ceiling of a crawl space. This

prevents crawl-space moisture from entering the house,

provides a termite shield and easily reflects limited light in

what is ordinarily a pretty dark space. The floor of the crawl

space is sealed off from ground moisture by lapping and

taping 6-mil plastic and caulking and mechanically fastening

the ground cover to the walls and pillars.

Mechanical ventilation is automated, using a heat-pump

two-speed indoor circulating fan that is very efficient at low

speed. When the fan is not needed to assist heating or

TECHNOLOGY

DOE Researchers Build Houses Along the Road

Leading Toward Zero Net Energy Consumption

A 12-foot by 12-foot, 8-foot-high test room under study in the ORNL Large Scale

Climate Simulator.

The house’s energy efficiency is about 50 percent “better

than code,” a short way of saying better than what would

satisfy the International Energy Conservation Code.
cooling, it will stop. But to provide adequate fresh

air to meet ASHRAE standard 62P, it will run 10

out of every 30 minutes during those nonheating, non-cooling periods.

Unique Water Heater

For air heating, ventilation and air conditioning

(HVAC), the test house uses several heat pumps.

But for water heating, it has something

exceptional – a specially developed “drop-in” heat

pump.

To make it an easy substitute for a conventional

electric water heater, the heat-pump water heater

uses an identical electrical hookup and a

conventional hot water tank. It needs no

additional plumbing or special skills for a plumber

to install.

As a heat pump, it uses crawl-space air in the winter,

which is tempered by proximity to earth – not quite a

geothermal system, but close. In the cooling season it also is

hooked into the back of the refrigerator and helps supply

cool dehumidified air to the kitchen. It was provided by

Enviromaster International. The company, based in Rome,

N.Y., now makes the heat-pump water heater commercially

available.

For one of the next two houses, Christian adds, a directexchange geothermal heat pump will be used for domestic

hot water as well as air heating, cooling and

dehumidification.

Solar Power Deal

The Tennessee Valley Authority pays the homeowner for

the house’s rooftop photovoltaic output. TVA pays 15 cents

per kilowatt hour (kWh) for that power, in an area where

the retail rate for electricity is 6.3 cents per kWh. 

The utility is motivated by an interest in demand-side

management, which sometimes is the most economical way

for a utility to balance its supply and demand obligations.

The roof has a reflective surface. The solar panels are

attached to a raised metal seam that is clipped to the roof.

Solar panels attached directly to a roof or built into it tend

to be too hot, Christian says.

On-site power generation is essential to achieve a “netzero energy” goal, meaning a house that returns as much

energy to the power grid as it takes off the grid.

Powerhouse Partners

In all of the work, ORNL stresses the importance of its

partnerships. For the first house, it teamed with two

Building America project teams, the Building Science

Consortium and the Florida Solar Energy Center, a research

institute of the University of Central Florida. And a host of

corporate partners – Tennessee Valley Authority, Structural

Insulated Panel Association, Metal Roof Alliance, Anderson

Windows, Dupont and others – helped in the project.

For other houses in the series, ORNL will team with more

Building America project leaders, including Integrated

Building and Construction Solutions, the Consortium for

Advanced Residential Buildings, consulting company

ConSol and architectural and engineering company Steven

Winter Associates.

For more information, contact Jeff Christian, ORNL

Buildings Technology Center, 865-574-5207, email

christianje@ornl.gov.

September – October 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 7

The first in a series of test houses draws an audience in Lenoir City, TN.

The second house being built in the research series, as it looked Sept. 24.
restrooms, locker rooms, storage areas, exercise rooms and

most classrooms to turn lights off automatically.

After-Hours Action

Brevard County’s public school system also changed the

work of maintenance crews. Scheduling made a difference.

When sections of schools are cleaned on regular schedules,

air handlers can be switched off at predictable times.

Evening activities were scheduled differently to save

money. By planning activities to coincide – for example, on

one night of a week rather than three separate nights –

energy requirements could be minimized on inactive nights.

Brevard, like Glenbard, also made a policy of switching off

lights and computers when not needed. And education was

stressed, not only for maintenance staff but for teachers. 

For more information, contact Larry Schoff, 540-961-3117,

email lschoff@rev.net.

8 PARTNER UPDATE • September – October 2003

Try turning some lights off. 

It sounds too simple, too commonplace and obvious, to

be part of an effective energy-efficiency program, but such

matters as switching off unneeded lights – and computers,

and other equipment – can save bundles of money.

The first, zero-cost steps toward saving energy and money

are through operational change. A set of examples can be

drawn from the recent effectiveness of two school districts

in cutting their energy expenses.

Glenbard Township High School District 87, a Rebuild

America partnership in the Chicago suburbs, is on track to

save $150,000 on energy over the course of a year after

making changes that did not cost a penny.

Brevard Public Schools, a Rebuild America partnership on

the Atlantic Coast of central Florida, saved more than

$750,000 on energy expenses in one year largely through

no-cost operational changes.

Both districts were under financial pressure. Glenbard’s

board of education voted in February to cut the district’s

budget by $1.58 million. In Brevard County, the board of

education decided the system would have to find ways to

cut utility bills by $1 million.

Too Well Lit

Glenbard high schools already had been upgraded to T-8

fluorescent lighting, which is more efficient than the older

T-12 lights. But when Larry Schoff, EnergySmart Schools

sector technical analyst, toured two of the four high schools

early in 2003, he noted that halls and rooms were very well

lit regardless of need.

The school district began a policy of turning off lights and

computers when not needed. It also reduced the number of

lights. In overlit areas, the schools often removed

fluorescent lights from each fixture, such as removing two

lights from a set of four.

“It means less cost, less glare, less labor, fewer bulb

replacements,” says Bob Versario, director of buildings and

grounds, who orchestrated the changes along with the

assistant principals of operations at each school.

Maintenance foremen were trained in proper use of the

computerized system for control of lights and air handlers,

which can be cut back or cut off in unoccupied areas.

Maintenance and cleaning staff were trained to turn off

unneeded lights and equipment.

“Basically, what we did over the last six to eight months is

educate people,” Versario says. “It’s a continual education. If

you don’t continually harp on it, the gains will go away.”

The district next hopes to install occupancy sensors in

Low-Cost and No-Cost Changes Help Schools

A Glenbard school hallway with more than 300 lamps, which were on all of the time.

Lights Out: When?

Frequent shutting off of lights will reduce lamp life, because

there are only a finite number of starts in the cathode of a

fluorescent lamp. 

But according to lighting technologists, standard 30-minute or

even 15-minute delays before shutoff for lights connected to

automated controls and occupancy sensors will assure energy and

cost savings. Since typical end-user electricity rates rose above

about 7 cents per kilowatt hour, it has been worthwhile to shut off

a fluorescent lamp even for as short a time as five minutes.

Think of it this way: The lamp cost about $2. The energy

savings can be as great as $12-$15 over the life of the lamp. Do

you care if the lamp fails a bit early if you achieve those savings?
September – October 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 9

To address this situation on campus, Texas A&M turned to

the Continuous Commissioning® program developed by its

Energy Systems Laboratory. By assigning teams to regularly

monitor and tune buildings and plant operations, the

university is reducing its energy load while increasing

occupant comfort.

The university began implementing the commissioning

program in 1996 by installing metering devices in large

buildings, the central utility plant and satellite thermal

plants across campus. By monitoring the facilities and

optimizing systems, the university has saved $24.5 million

since the program began. “These are actual, measured

savings!” Yazdani says. Comfort-related complaints from

building occupants have also been reduced.

The program was implemented at a cost of about $5.6

million, including the essential metering, equipment

replacement and repairs and new control elements, as well as

on-going monitoring and analysis. Energy cost savings have

averaged $3.5 million annually, for a simple payback period

of 1.6 years. 

Beyond the Campus

The Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL), directed by Dr. W.

Dan Turner, was the founding partner of the Brazos Valley

Energy Conservation Coalition, one of the first partnerships

formed under Rebuild America. The coalition – which

included the Bryan Independent School District, City of

Bryan, Texas Energy Engineering Service Inc. and Smart

Energy Systems – was originally formed to help reduce

energy in an eight-county region around the university. 

“But people from all over the state – and out of state –

wanted help,” explains Yazdani, “so they came to us.” 

Beyond Texas A&M, the partnership has helped cities,

counties, school districts, churches and higher-education

institutions save money through commissioning. Using

measurement and verification models, ESL analyzes

buildings under various weather conditions and occupancy

and then compares the results to actual utility bills. Each

partner community or organization receives information on

financing and implementing energy-saving improvements,

as well as access to technical assistance.

The coalition has helped communities produce impressive

results: 316 buildings have been retrofitted or commissioned,

representing 15.4 million square feet of space. Over $27

million in investments have produced nearly $6.3 million in

annual energy cost savings. Even if they don’t do a retrofit,

20 to 25 percent savings are possible through Continuous

“Teams wore

Power Patrol

vests while

monitoring all

classrooms, office

areas, portables

and storerooms

at recess, lunch

and before and

after school.

When lights were

found on, they were turned off. Classrooms were left with a

“good job” or “needs improvement” doorknob hanger.

“This information was recorded on the daily check sheets

and submitted to the teacher coordinator. The building was

also checked for blinds open or closed appropriately, doors

and windows left open or closed, dripping faucets, and

thermostats at the proper setting.

“Students explored other energy problems by doing

temperature comparisons of the windows, ceilings and

floors; conducted an energy audit and reported the findings

to the school boards at spring school board meetings,

Energy Fairs and school-wide poster contests.”

In California

Student recommendations to school boards have made

lasting differences. At Bemis Elementary School in

California, students taking part in ASE-inspired observations

recommended to the Board of Education that the color of

the roof be changed to reduce air-conditioning demand. The

board accepted their idea and provided money to paint the

roof white, a color that reflects more sunlight rather than

allowing the absorption of solar energy. Student activities at

Bemis saved an estimated $28,000 in one year.

In Rhode Island

At Park View Middle School in Cranston, RI, students in

NEED-inspired activities studied their own school and

concluded that the most economical method of improving

its energy efficiency would be a lighting retrofit. Local utility

Narragansett Electric-National Grid agreed to provide a

rebate for the retrofit. Park View estimated energy savings of

$5,000 in the first year from the lighting changes.

For more information on how to establish an energysaving patrol in your school, contact Blanche Sheinkopf,

EnergySmart Schools sector coordinator, 321-779-3768,

email bsheinkopf@energysmartschools.net.

Students in Cabot Middle School South in Arkansas take

part in energy-saving patrols.

Texas A&M

continued from page 1

Students Save Energy

continued from page 3

Continued on page 11
Upcoming Events

November

4 High Performance Schools Training,

presented by the Collaborative for High

Performance Schools. Sacramento Municipal

Utility District Energy & Technology Center,

Sacramento, CA. Visit www.chps.net/

events/workshops.htm.

12-14 World Energy Engineering Congress,

presented by the Association of Energy Engineers.

Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA.

Contact Ruth Marie at 770-447-5083 or email

info@aeecenter.org.

12-14 Greenbuild International Conference &

Expo, presented by the U.S. Green Building

Council. David L. Lawrence Convention Center,

Pittsburgh, PA. Call 330-425-9330.

13 Energy Technology Seminar:

Commissioning and Financing, presented 

by Rebuild America and Southern California

Edison. Customer Technology Application Center,

Irwindale, CA. Call 1-800-336-2822.

19-21 National Association of Energy Service

Companies Annual Conference,

InterContinental Hotel, New Orleans, LA. 

Visit www.naesco.org/conference.htm.

December

2 High Performance Schools Training,

presented by the Collaborative for High

Performance Schools. Pacific Energy Center, 

San Francisco, CA. Visit www.chps.net/

events/workshops.htm.

11-12 2003 Business Energy Solutions Expo,

presented by the Association of Energy 

Engineers. Ernest N. Morial Convention Center,

New Orleans, LA. Contact Ruth Marie at 

770-447-5083 or email info@aeecenter.org.

10 PARTNER UPDATE • September – October 2003

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

HUD and Habitat

[Editor’s Note: We encourage anyone with information or views

on Partner Update subjects to write to us.]

Dear Editor,

In the May-June 2003 edition of Partner Update, the article

“Building Homes with Habitat for Humanity” shines light on

the efforts of organizations around the nation working to

provide affordable housing to those who need it most. I

commend the New York State Energy Research and

Development Authority (NYSERDA) on partnering with

Habitat for Humanity to build affordable, durable and

energy-efficient homes in Brooklyn, New York. As I think

your readers will agree, affordable housing is a national

imperative.

That’s why the Partnership for Advancing Technology in

Housing (PATH), a HUD-administered program, also

partnered with Habitat for Humanity to support the effort.

PATH is a public-private initiative dedicated to accelerating

the development and use of technologies that radically

improve the quality, durability, energy efficiency,

environmental performance and affordability of America’s

housing. PATH has been working with Habitat for

Humanity-New York City to bring cutting-edge

homebuilding science and advanced technologies to the

Brooklyn row houses.

The PATH-profiled technologies incorporated into the

homes include: fiber cement siding, water-saving plumbing,

high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, nonpolluting

paints, windows that block excess sun heat, and ENERGYSTAR®

appliances. With these enhancements, along with additional

technical support from NYSERDA, the row houses meet

stringent requirements for the ENERGYSTAR Homes label.

The Brooklyn project is one in a growing list of

collaborations between PATH and Habitat for Humanity to

bring the many benefits of advanced homebuilding

technologies to the affordable housing market. To learn

more about PATH and its work on this and other projects,

please visit www.pathnet.org.

Sincerely,

David Engel, Director

Affordable Housing Research and Technology Division

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Visit the Events page in the Rebuild America Web site to

read about or post other events. You can also keep up on

events and provide event listings through the Flash Report,

with subscriptions available via the Web site’s News page.
September – October 2003 • PARTNER UPDATE 11

Terry Pease, who has been winning friends, influencing

people and making a difference through Wisconsin energyefficiency programs, has shifted into a job focused on home

weatherization in his state’s Department of Administration.

“We’re sorry to lose him, because people turned to him as a

mentor and peer,” says Carla Clemons, the Rebuild America

team leader for the Chicago Region of the U.S. Department of

Energy. “He’s so collaborative and willing to share.”

She stresses the depth and value of Pease’s technical,

political and program knowledge and understanding. 

State of Wisconsin – Focus on Energy serves as the

partnership for all Rebuild America projects in the state.

His new job has taken him out of Focus on Energy and into

the weatherization program, still in the Division of Energy.

In the last week of August, Pease and a friend happened

upon the scene of a highway accident and pulled a woman

and her daughter from a burning car. It is characteristic of

Pease that when he recounts the incident, he offers both

practical advice – “always carry a fire extinguisher in your

car” – and spirited encouragement to others to help

whenever they can.

Pease Makes His Move

• Branford Board of Education, CT

• Cahokia Community Energy Program, IL

• Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, OH

• Falls Church City Public Schools, VA

• Maine School Management Association, ME

• Maui Montessori, HI

• Petaluma City School District, CA

• Rebuild Molalla River School District, OR

• Seagull Schools Inc., HI

• Sherman County Wind, OR

• Shore Regional High School District, NJ

• Slide Ranch, CA

• State & Consumer Services Agency, CA

• Town of Trumball, CT

• University of Ohio, OH

New Partnerships

Commissioning alone, according to Yazdani.

ESL is also providing support to the State Energy

Conservation Office (SECO), which, along with Rebuild

America and ENERGY STAR®, formed the Texas Energy

Partnership. ESL is working with SECO to expand

participation and tools available to Texas communities

through the partnership. For example, ESL is providing

technical assistance – including Continuous Commissioning

– for Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport’s terminal renovations, as well

as the City of San Antonio and Bexar County’s energy audits

and facility improvements.

More Campus Projects

Back on campus, the university is moving ahead with

additional energy projects. A pilot lighting retrofit project

was implemented 18 months ago at the Engineering/Physics

complex. T-12 fluorescent lamps were replaced with more

efficient T-8 versions, and incandescent light bulbs were

replaced with compact fluorescent lights. Occupancy sensors

were also installed. Energy consumption for lighting has

been reduced by 35 percent, with overall energy usage for

the complex dropping by 10 percent. With the success of

this project, the university plans to perform extensive

lighting retrofits on campus.

Additional capital improvements being planned include

new chiller and boiler equipment for the central utility and

West Campus plants. These upgrades will further add to the

university’s successful efforts to save energy.

For more information, contact Mike Myers, 512-280-7569,

email mmyers@rebuild.com, or Bahman Yazdani at

byazdani@esl.tamu.edu.

Texas A&M

continued from page 9

NATIONAL 

CONFERENCE

MAY 11-14, 2004

Minneapolis Hilton • Minneapolis, Minnesota

SAVE THE DATE

FOR STATES AND COMMUNITIES

Number of Partnerships:

564

Total Number of Committed or 

Completed Square Feet:

1,207,408,386

as of September 26, 2003 

Rebuild America Progress Calculator
REBUILD AMERICA 

Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy

U.S. Department of Energy

1000 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20585-0121

Address Correction Requested

Rebuild America is a network

of partnerships – focused 

on communities – that save

money by saving energy.

These voluntary partnerships choose to improve

the quality of life in their communities through

energy efficiency. Rebuild America supports them

with customized assistance backed by technical and

business experts and resources.

Published bimonthly by the U.S. Department 

of Energy, Partner Update also incorporates news 

of other programs within the Office of Energy

Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Newsletter contact: 

Alan Kovski, 202-466-7391 or akovski@pcgpr.com. 

To subscribe: 

rebuildorders@rebuild.org or 252-459-4664.

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable

energy will mean a stronger economy, a

cleaner environment, and greater energy

independence for America. By investing in

technology breakthroughs today, our nation

can look forward to a more resilient

economy and secure future. 

Far-reaching technology changes will be

essential to America's energy future.

Working with a wide array of state,

community, industry, and university

partners, the U.S. Department of Energy's

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Energy invests in a portfolio of energy

technologies that will:

• Conserve energy in the residential,

commercial, industrial, government,

and transportation sectors 

• Increase and diversify energy supply,

with a focus on renewable domestic

sources 

• Upgrade our national energy

infrastructure 

• Facilitate the emergence of hydrogen

technologies as a vital new “energy

carrier.” 

The Opportunities

Biomass Program

Using domestic, plant-derived resources to

meet our fuel, power, and chemical needs

Building Technologies Program

Homes, schools, and businesses that use

less energy, cost less to operate, and

ultimately, generate as much power as 

they use

Distributed Energy & Electric Reliability

Program

A more reliable energy infrastructure and

reduced need for new power plants

Federal Energy Management Program

Leading by example, saving energy and

taxpayer dollars in federal facilities 

FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies

Program

Less dependence on foreign oil, and

eventual transition to an emissions-free,

petroleum-free vehicle

Geothermal Technologies Program

Tapping the earth's energy to meet our heat

and power needs

Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure

Technologies Program

Paving the way toward a hydrogen

economy and net-zero carbon energy future

Industrial Technologies Program

Boosting the productivity and

competitiveness of U.S. industry through

improvements in energy and environmental

performance

Solar Energy Technology Program

Utilizing the sun's natural energy to

generate electricity and provide water 

and space heating 

Weatherization & Intergovernmental

Program

Accelerating the use of today's best energyefficient and renewable technologies in

homes, communities, and businesses 

Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program

Harnessing America's abundant natural

resources for clean power generation

To learn more, visit www.eere.energy.gov

Marketing and Communications Rebuild America Help Line 202-466-7868

Check Us Out At: www.rebuild.gov or 252-459-4664

A Strong Energy Portfolio for a Strong America