Big Shift — Larger than One Project

The move from a steam to hot water is at the core of the Big Shift, but it’s only one part of a larger effort toward shifting our investments, our energy supply and our commitment as a campus to becoming more sustainable.

The implementation of a hot water system is happening at the campus level, enabling our Central Heating and Cooling Plant to use more renewable energy sources instead of natural gas. Alongside this investment, reducing the campus's energy use is equally as important. There is a team of people that work on this kind of energy conservation every day — the Energy & Engineering Office in Facilities Management.

“We have a team of engineers and data scientists whose primary mission is to reduce energy use and increase energy efficiency in our campus buildings,” said Kiernan Salmon, a product developer for the Energy & Engineering Office.

One of the Energy & Engineering team's ongoing projects is Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning scheduling and efficiency opportunities. This project involves identifying inefficiencies in a building's HVAC system and coming up with an individualized solution that optimizes comfort and energy use. Solutions include creating new HVAC schedules so buildings aren't heated and cooled when unoccupied.

You can help the Energy & Engineering Office collect data and pinpoint problems by providing temperature problems by giving temperature feedback through TherMOOstat or look for energy waste in your building through the Trim the Waste program.

Explore other Energy & Engineering Office projects and the energy savings they produce on the Campus Energy Education Dashboard.