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LAWRENCE -- An energy audit has helped the University of Kansas identify more than 150 top-priority energy-saving measures that should result in annual savings of $1.7 million for the university.
The total cost to implement these measures is approximately $18.4 million, according to the audit performed by CMS Viron Energy Services Co. of Overland Park.
KU is studying the possibility of entering into a performance contract with CMS Viron. Under the proposal, the energy company will cover the implementation costs of these energy-efficient measures. The university will pay CMS Viron back through the annual $1.7 million savings over a 20-year period.
CMS Viron also will guarantee that the savings generated by the energy conservation measures it recommends and implements will be sufficient to meet the annual debt repayment.
The proposal for this partnership will be presented at the Kansas Board of Regents meeting in Topeka this Thursday.
The measures cited by CMS Viron include improving lighting, installing programmable thermostats, replacing aging cooling towers, replacing Power Plant boiler No. 7 and improving a related system, and installing solar window film, among others. The university's highest capital improvement priority project Ð the electrical distribution upgrade Ð and deferred maintenance projects also will be funded through this partnership.
Jim Long, vice provost of facilities planning and management, said this was the first such audit to look at the campus "systemwide" and the first to consider the relationship between operations, functions and energy use.
Long said the enhancement projects that result from this audit would help KU address some of its most important energy conservation needs.
"This is a potential for a partnership with a recognized company that will allow us to do a comprehensive audit and provide us a vehicle by which the most significant of these projects can be funded through the energy savings," he said.
Eric King, director of facilities for the Kansas Board of Regents, said KU had taken a lead in this initiative, being among the first institutions to take advantage of the program.
The partnership between KU and CMS Viron was made possible by the 2000 Kansas State Legislature, which voted overwhelmingly to allow public entities to engage in performance contracting for energy conservation.
"There are a number of benefits in doing this," King said. "It is going to lower the universities' utility costs, which is a major issue. Overall, our universities are spending about $30 million per year for utilities. I think it's also going to improve their operating efficiency, reduce emissions, and provide information or data for more intelligent decision-making."
King said this innovative program also would allow regents institutions to address their growing deferred maintenance needs.
"We have quite a backlog of deferred maintenance projects on our campuses, and we're not able to get all the funding we need to take care of those," he said. "This is one way to assist with that."
Last December, KU hired CMS Viron to audit its Lawrence and Overland Park campuses for energy usage. The audit covered more than 5.9 million square feet in all buildings, including the steam heating system and the power plants. Auditors also evaluated the design of new facilities and pending renovation projects to ensure that energy efficiency was an integral part of the design.
Theresa Klinkenberg, chief business and financial planning officer for KU, said the partnership was a way for KU to get the most out of its budget while minimizing costs.
Klinkenberg said rising utility costs and the Legislature's decision not to fund KU's request to service new buildings, such as the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics and Pearson Hall, the new home of the School of Education, made this partnership all the more necessary.
"It's beneficial because we are picking up $18 million worth of projects all at once," she said. "In the past we did things piecemeal -- one at a time -- according to what we could afford."
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