Lauren Bishop, Energy Manager
Al Laster, Energy Specialist
3476 Old Cullowhee Road
Cullowhee, NC 28723
(828) 227-3562
Map and Directions to Campus
Map of Facilities Management Office
DID YOU KNOW?
The university installed low-flow water fixtures in residential living areas that in two months saved more than 2.1 million gallons of water – a monthly savings of $3,406.
The temperature of campus buildings is reduced to 55 degrees when not in use.
The campus has six neighborhood electric vehicles.
WCU is one of 91 colleges and universities selected last year for a pilot study of a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
We have reached the NC Energy Mandate to reduce our Energy Consumption 30% by the year 2015.
We have reached the NC Petroleum Reduction Mandate to reduce our petroleum usage by 20% by 2010. We did this by purchasing electric vehicles, switching all diesel to Biodiesel (B20) & unleaded gasoline to E10 Gasohol.
To learn more, check out Sustainable Initiatives at WCU… Reducing Our Carbon “Paw Print” (PowerPoint)
News and Events
Carbon ‘paw print’ shrinks at Western Carolina (PDF)
From Jan. 12, 2009 issue of The Reporter
Strategic Energy Plans
2008 Capital Projects
- Performance Contracting – WCU is contracting a private energy service company (ESCO) to identify and evaluate energy-saving opportunities, then recommend a package of improvements to be paid for through savings. The ESCO will guarantee that savings meet or exceed annual payments to cover all project costs. If savings don’t materialize, the ESCO pays the difference, not WCU. To ensure savings, the ESCO offers staff training and long-term maintenance services. The project will include energy improvements to several buildings on campus.
- Metering Project – We are installing digital meters that will measure electricity, water and steam in several buildings on campus. The meters send real-time utility data back to our main Energy Management System. This allows us to actively manage the energy being used in these buildings in real-time.
- Retro Commission of the HF Robinson Administration Building - Retro-commissioning (RCx) is a systematic, documented process that identifies low-cost operational and maintenance improvements in existing buildings and brings the buildings up to the design intentions of its current usage. This systematic process typically includes building HVAC, controls, lighting, hot water, security, fire, life and safety systems. We received a $125,000 grant from the NC Energy Reserve Fund to complete this project for HFR.
- Relighting Warehouse – Replacing an old lighting system of high pressure sodium with new, high efficiency metal halide. We received a $15,000 grant from the NC Energy Reserve Fund to complete this project.
- Steam System Audit – Conducting a complete audit of our steam infrastructure system to locate and replace leaky steam traps and repair other leaks associated with steam delivery. We received a $30,000 grant from the NC Energy Reserve Fund to complete this project.