Case Study: Building Energy Management (Academia)
Background
In 2014, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) (English: Pontifical Catholic University of Peru), a leading private university in Lima, set out its Master Sustainability Plan 2030, the efforts under which, led it to be recognised as Peru’s very first sustainable university. PUCP is also the first university in Latin America to host a LEED Lab — a multidisciplinary project-based course through which students can obtain the necessary training toward becoming an accredited LEED AP professional.
The primary focus of PUCP’s Master Sustainability Plan 2030 is the move toward more resource-efficient and climate-friendly campus infrastructure, landscapes and buildings in accordance with international standards. Sustainability expert and LEED specialist, Hector Miranda and his team at Regenerativa (Peru) were subsequently contracted to ensure that PUCP’s existing buildings and new state-of-the-art academic facilities met the requirements of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) – the most widely used green building rating system in the world.
Problem to be solved
Regenerativa needed a turnkey solution that included the deployment of smart meters to collect and record energy usage data, as well as a platform that would provide visibility into how, when and where energy is used in campus buildings; and report the required data to ARC. ARC is the USGBC’s tool used to earn a LEED certification for Existing Buildings. Its scores create a holistic picture of the results of sustainability efforts at the building, portfolios, and community levels. ARC rates 5 key areas of sustainability: Energy, Water, Waste, Transportation and Human Experience.
Solution
Wattics delivered a turnkey solution – smart meters pre-configured to send data to Wattics energy management platform and an energy analytics dashboard through which to continuously monitor, analyse and report on energy consumption of PUCP’s LEED campus buildings:
- “Aulario” complex of Academic Innovation (LEED Gold NC)
- Faculty of Arts (LEED Gold EBOM)
- Right building “Edificio de Derecho” (LEED Gold EBOM)
- Library of Academic Innovation Complex (LEED Silver NC)
- Felipe Mac McGregor building (LEED Silver EBOM)
- Centennial Complex (LEED Silver NC)
The solution delivered:
- Automated data collection from smart meters,
- 24 hr monitoring for which to track improvements in energy performance and efficiency,
- Accessibility into energy consumption values and the ability to import relevant building data for reporting to ARC eg. Monthly energy (kWh) & water consumption (gal), waste (t), CO2 levels per space, TVOC levels by space and more;
- Ability to establish baseline energy measurements to measure and verify the effectiveness of ongoing energy savings/efficiency projects in new and existing buildings.
Listed below are additional functionalities available through Wattics energy management dashboard, used by Regenerativa for ongoing energy performance improvement at PUCP – and which assist LEED specialists/consultants, building owners and operators to meet requirements for LEED certification.
Energy & Atmosphere (LEED Category with highest possible point potential):
- Establish and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs);
- Benchmark energy performance against similar buildings;
- Benchmark compare buildings’site energy data and compare against historical data to demonstrate improvement, taking to account variable data such as outside temperature, building use, occupancy etc;
- Identify significant energy uses that represent the highest percentage of total energy use;
- Identify peak demand (kVA) and consumption (kW) of individual appliances, of a particular building or site. Examine peak demand charges to understand which equipment or areas of a building are costing the most and where discrepancies exist between kW/kVa and its associated costs;
- Evaluate and analyse consumption of individual building appliances and identify areas of operational waste. Devise optimum operation schedule to maximise energy efficiency;
- Monitor events through alarms and alerts –eg. energy consumption and peak demand rise above an anticipated amount by more than 5%;
- Measure, verify and evaluate energy savings actions, behaviours, technologies;
- Compare consumption and cost values across monitored buildings and equipment;
- Calculate, monitor and report CO2 emissions of a building(s);
- Remotely access data from anywhere;
- View, report on hourly, daily, monthly, and annual energy use;
- View, analyse interval data down to 5 minutes
Results
To date, PUCP has 6 LEED certified buildings all of which are currently monitored by Ecométricas, Regenerativa’s energy management and monitoring platform, powered by Wattics. Sustainability projects are ongoing at PUCP with an additional two buildings on the grounds of the university campus currently in the process of being certified. Through its expertise, supported by powerful, intuitive energy management technology, Regenerativa has become indispensable to the continuing efforts under PUCP’s Master Sustainability Plan.
In June 2019, a PUCP recognition ceremony was held, by the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), in which the university was hailed as the ‘first sustainable university campus in Peru.’ ISCN represents a prestigious network of colleges, universities and corporate campuses, including the likes of Harvard; MIT; Princeton; Yale which exchange information, ideas, and best practices for achieving sustainable campus operations and integrating sustainability in research and teaching.
“LEED Lab further complements our campus sustainability efforts by educating our students to become future professional leaders in green building. LEED Lab teaches them how to design, build and maintain a community with LEED and green building practices.”
– Hector Miranda, CEO & MD, LEED AP, Regnerativa, ISCN Ambassador, Peru & Latin, America
Next steps
Apart from its ongoing work toward optimising building energy performance at PUCP, Regenerativa intends to replicate these efforts towards maximising water efficiency at the university – namely harnessing the power of analytics to:
- Collect, track and report water meter consumption data;
- Monitor water usage data for process end uses, such as humidification systems, dishwashers, clothes washers, pools, and other subsystems using process water;
- Establish and monitor KPIs to reduce water consumption according to recommended LEED guidelines;
- Record metered data of water fixtures and fittings to establish a water-use baseline;
- Analyse and compare water use reduction efforts across buildings, and individual water uses (possible with sub-metering);
- Measure, verify and evaluate impact water retrofit projects.
Hector and his team will also continue efforts through the university’s LEED Lab which is instrumental in the development of a new generation of young professionals committed to sustainable development. Approximately 20 PUCP LEED LAB students (pictured above) have obtained the LEED Green Associate Accreditation, recognised in more than 150 countries worldwide.
