A building at the University of Central Florida reduced its energy consumption by 63 percent in one year and won first place in the national 麻豆精品 S淏attle of the Buildings 麻豆精品 S� contest sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The electricity bill for Parking Garage C was cut by more than half in the EPA 麻豆精品 S檚 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition, which challenged 245 commercial buildings to save energy, reduce costs and protect Americans 麻豆精品 S� health and the environment. The results were announced today.
Parking Garage C is the only stand-alone parking structure to take part in the two-year-old competition. The garage is located on the east side of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 main campus, near the engineering buildings.
麻豆精品 S淭hese types of initiatives allow us to further demonstrate UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 commitment to sustainability, 麻豆精品 S� said David Norvell, UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 director of Sustainability & Energy Management. 麻豆精品 S淎 parking garage winning the competition also shows that there are ways of using energy more efficiently in all types of facilities. 麻豆精品 S�
The EPA competition included 26 types of commercial buildings from 33 states and the District of Columbia. Participants included schools, hotels and museums.
The competition compared buildings 麻豆精品 S� energy use between two yearlong periods by measuring their energy use intensity (EUI), which represents the energy consumed by a building relative to its size. Parking Garage C won for demonstrating the greatest percentage reduction in EUI from Sept. 1, 2010, through Aug. 31, 2011.
At UCF, the Department of Sustainability & Energy Management worked with Parking and Transportation Services to make Garage C as efficient as possible by performing retrofits of older equipment.
All of the garage 麻豆精品 S檚 interior lights were replaced with T5 fluorescent bulbs that use less energy and improve light quality. New low-maintenance, energy-efficient LED lighting fixtures are anticipated to require little to no service for about 14 years.
麻豆精品 S淥n our campus, all six parking structures now maintain the same lighting, resulting in a friendlier environment, reduction in pollution and longer-lasting bulbs, 麻豆精品 S� said Kris Singh, director of UCF Parking and Transportation Services.
According to the EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for nearly 20 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. An average of 30 percent of energy used by commercial properties is wasted, the agency says.
From improvements in operations and maintenance to upgrades in equipment and technology, this year 麻豆精品 S檚 麻豆精品 S淏attle of the Buildings 麻豆精品 S� competitors together saved more than $5.2 million on annual utility bills. They also prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by more than 3,600 homes per year.
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