The 2000 Kansas Legislature unanimously approved “Performance Contracting,” a new concept for energy conservation improvements for all state agencies. Through performance contracting, energy efficiency improvements can be funded through the energy savings they produce. The University of Kansas has entered into an agreement with CMS-Viron Energy Services of Overland Park, Kansas, for the development of an Energy Saving Performance Contract for the Lawrence Campus.
CMS-Viron Energy Services was selected by a KU team consisting of Jim Long, Assistant Provost; Jim Modig, Director of Design and Construction Management (DCM); Gary Lawson, Mechanical Engineer-DCM; Doug Riat, Director, Facilities Operations; Cindy Strecker, Energy Manager, Facilities Operations; Warren Corman, University Architect and Rodger Oroke, University Director of General Services.
Under the agreement, Viron will partner with KU in determining energy efficiency improvements by conducting a comprehensive energy audit of over 5.9 million gross square feet of campus space. The audit will identify energy conservation measures (ECMs) that will generate annual savings sufficient to cover the cost of the upgrades over a KU-approved payback period of up to 20 years. Once the ECMs have been identified and KU has approved them, Viron will be solely responsible for the design, purchase, installation and performance verification of the projects. Viron will guarantee that the savings generated by the ECMs will be sufficient to meet the annual debt repayment. Project financing may be through either a letter of credit administered by the Department of Administration or through private financing arranged by Viron.
The comprehensive energy audit is now under way. Viron engineers have been working with Facilities Operations and the Design and Construction Management Office to survey existing systems and equipment. For the lighting audit, a crew from Retro-Tech Systems, a subcontractor to Viron, will walk through every space on campus to inventory the type of lighting presently installed. The audit teams will have clearly visible identification badges indicating that they are Viron or Retro-Tech staff members. They also will wear shirts bearing either the Viron Energy Services Company or the Retro-Tech Systems name.
This approach will enable KU to improve energy efficiency through the replacement of many aged and inefficient equipment items. This opportunity is unique also in that it provides for a holistic evaluation of how we use energy on the campus and the interrelationships between our environmental conditioning systems. Virtually every aspect of the campus's energy use will be considered. In addition, water use will be evaluated and opportunities for conservation will be included in the Energy Audit Report.
An important aspect of the audit will also be the development of Viron's understanding of how our campus buildings are operated and the hours during which each space is in use. The intent of this program is to provide the necessary environment for KU's mission to be carried out in an energy-efficient manner.
Preliminary reviews indicate that this program has the potential to identify major dollar savings, enabling KU to address many projects on its list of deferred maintenance needs. Generally speaking, there is a close relationship between energy-inefficient equipment and equipment on the deferred maintenance list.
If there are any difficulties encountered with the energy audit process, please feel free to call Rodger Oroke 785-864-4168.
Thank you for your continuing support of KU's efforts to reduce its energy consumption.
