Honeywell, University of Wisconsin partner on green upgrades
Industrial stalwart Honeywell and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announced on Wednesday that they have completed the first in a series of energy-efficient building upgrades, saving the school some $620,000 in annual energy costs.
UWM contracted Honeywell for the job with the goal of reducing energy and operating expenses by $30.8 million over the next two decades. That means the duo will have to trim electricity use by more than 10 million kilowatt-hours each year, enough energy to power 940 homes.
(The other good news: it's a savings of 31 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.)
Honeywell is completing the work under three 20-year performance contracts with the university. The deal is structured so that school officials can avoid risk and pay for future upgrades with current savings, which Honeywell guarantees as part of the deal.
The project is part of a multi-phase, $21.7-million university energy conservation and infrastructure renewal program called "Energy Matters."
Honeywell began work on the university by first conducting an energy audit, focusing on 10 facilities with the largest utility bills.
Phase One involves improvements to five of those buildings, such as:
- Updated building controls and HVAC systems.
- New high-efficiency light fixtures and occupancy sensors.
- Weather-stripping, caulking and sealing of the buildings.
- High-efficiency plumbing fixtures.
Honeywell also provided the university with a sustainability dashboard -- virtual and physical, installed in front of the library -- so officials, faculty and students can view real-time energy use.
Phase Two involves similar upgrades to the five facilities not yet touched; there are also similar-minded projects at the university's housing, research and datacenter buildings.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com