College Energy Management

Did you know College spends just under 7 million euro each year on electricity, natural gas and water? This results in greenhouse gas emissions of 29,000 tonnes.

It is College policy to promote sustainable development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Everybody has a role to play. Simple actions like switching off lights when they are not required, not using plug-in electric heaters, using a blank screensaver, tightening up your PC powersave features, pulling down the sash on fume cupboards, and managing lab equipment all help. For more tips on how you can help, go to www.e3.ie (Interactive map operational site partially under redevelopment)

Fume cupboards use electricity and draw heat out of the building.

Energy Facts

In 2010/11 College consumed over 35,600,000 kWh of electricity, over 38,000,000 kWh of natural gas and over 330,000 cubic metres of water. That cost just under 7m. Each extra euro spent on energy and water, is a euro less available for other activities, such as research or campus development.

Renewable Energy

Since 2007 a substantial proportion of our electricity has been generated from renewable energy sources. As result of recent energy procurements rounds all electricity accounts since March 2012 have a 50% renewable component in the source of supply.

Our Commitment

The College Strategic Plan identifies our role in fostering a sustainable society, and to raise awareness of the centrality of low-carbon living and sustainability. College aims to position itself at the forefront of sustainable, low energy procurement initiatives in all future construction projects. We will establish ambitious targets for reduced energy usage, water usage and waste production in all areas of College activity.
The College is committed to the second National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) which sets out targets for public sector bodies to reduce energy consumption against a base year by 33% by year 2020.

College Energy Strategy

Our energy programme has four main strands

• Ensure new and refurbished buildings are designed to be efficient in use
• Monitor, manage and reduce use in existing buildings
• Consider life-cycle costs when buying new equipment and plant
• Use low cost and, where possible, renewable energy sources.

Water and Waste Water Management

Water and waste water management are areas that are essential to the management of the sustainability of the College.

Water saving devices including spray taps and low water content wc cisterns are used extensively within College. Extensive works have been undertaken to upgrade the water mains within the College main campus to minimise water leakage.

The Biomedical Sciences Institute, completed in 2011, has a rain water harvesting system This system captures rainwater from the roof level and stores it for use in WC flushing. This system reduces the demand from Dublin City Council for expensive treated drinking water.

The Biomedical Sciences Institute also has a partial green roof which reduces the discharge of rain water to the city surface water drains. Within College older building stock a green roof is installed adjacent to the Long Room Hub and a number of the Arts Building lower level roof terraces.

Planted Sedum Green Roof

Energy reduction programme - e3

The Director of Buildings Office has been collaborating with UCD, DIT, and DCU to reduce energy use since 2004. The programme is called e3 (energy, environment and economy).
Our participation since the programme started in 2004 has resulted in College achieving cumulative savings of just under one million euro and 5,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (March 2012).
You can identify participating Trinity college buildings, and find out more about e3, at www.e3.ie

Display Energy Certificates

Many Trinity College large buildings now have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) indicating the energy performance of that building. DEC’s are ratings based on the actual measured energy consumption in a building each year. These certificates are prominently displayed, and generally to be found at the entrance of each building. They are updated annually, and our objective is to improve the energy rating of our buildings over time.

Buildings rated D and higher would be performing better than average in comparison to benchmarks. It is notable that those buildings with ratings lower than D are generally heavy research intensive buildings. These buildings tend to have very energy intensive equipment and onerous environmental controls. The DEC certs are of great assistance in identifying where to target our energy conservation efforts.

Energy assistance to faculties, schools and departments

We are committed to working with faculties, schools and departments to assist them in reducing their energy use and emissions. We will meet to discuss opportunities. Where appropriate, our support may include an energy survey to identify energy saving opportunities, and investments in reducing energy use.
We will also support and work with commercial and self-financing units that take a role in reducing their energy use.

Biomedical Sciences Institute

During 2011 the Colleges newest building the Biomedical Sciences Institute on Pearse Street was completed. The building has several very innovative energy saving features including a highly efficient heat recovery system on all ventilation equipment, an automatic lighting control system and a rain water harvesting system.

The building has a partial green roof with planted Sedum living roof. This roof in conjunction with a surface water rain water attenuation tank limits the volume of surface water released to the Dublin City Council (DCC) surface water drainage system. These systems ensure the building complies with the Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) for DCC.

The building will has a 600 kW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant. The CHP plant simultaneously generates both electricity and heat on site. The electricity is providing the base electrical demand for the building and recovered heat generated is heating the building and general hot water. This is the first for College and will assist in reducing the overall environmental impact of the building.

Energy Awareness & Useful Links

If you would like to promote energy efficiency in your area, awareness stickers, notices and posters are available from us and from other sources.
For e3 posters and stickers, contact kieron.mcgovern@tcd.ie.
For posters and customisable notices, see www.e3.ie Get Involved.
For guidance on how to raise energy awareness, and other resources, see http://www.sei.ie/energymap/Energy_Awareness/
Other links:
www.tcd.ie/greenpages
www.powerofone.ie
www.change.ie
www.carbontrust.co.uk
http://www.seai.ie/Your_Business/Public_Sector/

Winter Demand Reduction & Night Demand

Each winter College endeavours to reduce electrical demand during the national Winter Peak Demand Reduction period. This scheme helps reduce the peak national electricity demand, thereby reducing the use of less efficient power generating stations.
You can help by ensuring that unnecessary laboratory, office, and other equipment, and lighting is switched off between 5pm and 7pm.
Where possible batch-type work, such as energy intensive IT updates or computations, electric autoclaves, use of hydraulic equipment, and activities that use significant volumes of compressed air should be avoided from 5pm-7pm.
Electricity prices at night, from 11pm to 8am, are half that of during the day, so we also encourage switching batched activities to between these times where possible.
Remember, between 5pm and 7pm:

• Switch off unnecessary lights or equipment
• Do not run electric autoclaves
• Avoid substantial IT updates and computations
• Avoid activities that use compressed air
• Avoid use of hydraulic equipment/pumps

2013 Green Week Competition

Green week starts on 18th of February, 2013. See www.tcd.ie/greenpages for the programme. This year we are giving away two whole house electricity meters. Click here for more details. Green Week 2013 Competition.

Kieron McGovern

Engineering Services Manager
Director of Buildings Office
West Chapel
Trinity College
Kieron.mcgovern@tcd.ie
Phone: 00 353 1 896 8513
Fax: 00 353 1 679 3799