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With a steady increase in the cost of energy over the last few years, the University of Maine has taken great steps this year to improve energy conservation on campus.
The chancellor for the University of Maine System has requested that Gov. John Baldacci provide $190 million for the 2008 fiscal year. That is a $14.8 million increase from last year’s budget.
Gov. Baldacci’s base budget funding for the upcoming fiscal year is $180.2 million, which is a 2.9 percent increase from last year’s funding from the state.
A substantial financial increase from the 2007 fiscal year is the hike in energy costs. Last year, the university spent a total of $10,778,666 on energy for the UM campus, which was 5 percent of the total budget. For the 2008 fiscal year, UMaine has estimated that energy costs will spike by 1 percent. If you compare this figure to estimates for energy expenditures from 2003-2006 fiscal years, the energy spending only increased 0.7 percent between these three years.
“One of the biggest reasons for such an increase in energy spending is the rate at which the University of Maine has been growing over the past year,” Waldron said.
Waldron and her staff have come up with many pioneering ways to help cut energy costs this year and for the future.
The Green Loan Fund, in partnership with the University of Maine Foundation, has been established to provide funding for innovative campus-wide conservation and sustainability initiatives. The fund is a commitment between UMaine and the University of Maine Foundation to improve energy use and sustainability on campus.
The Green Loan Fund will help support energy-saving projects that will have a three-year payback period. The minimum loan amount is $25,000; however, multiple projects may be bundled in the same fund together. Some of the initiatives that the Green Loan Fund is already preparing to put into place are:
Residence/Dining Hall Initiatives:
I. Limited break housing to allow more residence halls to have temperature setbacks to 55 degrees during vacation periods. This will produce an annual cost savings of $36,000.
II. The installation of low flow and/or reduction of shower fixtures in residence halls, with more underway. This reduces water usage by 30,000 gallons of water per building per day. This produces a savings of $80 per building per day and should produce a $48,000 annual savings in energy and other savings in total discharge costs.
Transportation Initiatives:
I. Increased university-sponsored bus service with Bangor Area Transportation to provide service to a multi-town area for students, faculty, staff and retirees. A total annual ridership of 78,000 is expected in 2007, a 129 percent increase over five-year period.
II. Over the next two years six hybrids added to vehicle fleet; includes one for Public Safety and one for Environmental Health and Safety. Mileage for four in the motor pool shows savings of $13,000 to date at today’s prices.
Energy Controls
I. Major science and research buildings put on a Continuous Commissioning Process (Cimetrics). Additional buildings to be added. Savings of over $100,000 have been identified in first six months of this program.
Steam Trap Survey, Inventory and Repair
I. Conducted extensive inventory of more than 3,500 steam traps to identify malfunctioning steam traps for replacement. Estimated annual savings of approximately $150,000 after first-year upgrade.
To learn more about the Green Loan Fund or how you can help conserve energy on campus logon to http://www.sustainability.umaine.edu/index.html.
Bangor Daily News