Energy Conservation

Energy is a responsibility shared by building designers, departments that produce and provide the utilities for campus, departments that maintain buildings and systems that use energy, and employees and the entire campus community that consumes the energy. Ohio State is committed to improving energy efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and investigating cost effective options for use of renewable energy sources. Key activities include program and policy development, utility metering and data analysis, building energy auditing and optimization, energy conservation project management and evaluating new technologies.

Utility Metering

Utility metering is the foundation of the energy management program. With nearly 600 buildings on the Columbus campus, building energy consumption data provides engineers and technicians with a granular view of a building's operational efficiency.

Energy Auditing and Conservation Projects

A significant part of Ohio State’s energy management strategy includes conducting building energy audits and implementing energy conservation measures (ECM) identified during the audit process.

Energy Auditing

Energy auditing is the practice of evaluating a building's operations and identifying opportunities to conserve energy. Some ECMs that have been implemented on Ohio State’s campus include insulating steam and chilled water piping, retrofitting buildings with high-efficiency equipment and optimizing HVAC systems.

An example of an energy audit report conducted at the Fawcett Center can be found in our case studies.

Completed in 2015, the 5-building energy conservation project targeted five of the university’s most energy-intensive buildings: Biomedical Research Tower, Physics Research Building, Recreation and Physical Activities Center, Scott Laboratory and the Veterinary Medical Center. These buildings accounted for less than 8 percent of the university’s total building space but more than 12 percent of its energy consumption. Implementation of numerous energy conservation measures in these five buildings was completed in 2015, with a projected savings of $1 million annually.