CONTACT
Brian Gardner
Sr. Facility Manager
131B Main Hall
330-244-3270
bgardne4@kent.edu
On April 19, 2010, the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (OAQDA) announced that Kent State University at Stark was approved to receive approximately $1.3 million in financing assistance for improvements to ensure that the campus will make energy conservation a priority.
The approval was in response to the Stark Campus portion of an Energy Conservation Master Plan, adopted by Kent State University in 2008, to meet energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals of 20 percent by 2014, as targeted by State House Bill 251. The bond financed monies were used for a long list of energy-efficient and conservation upgrades, including lighting retrofits, HVAC upgrades and kitchen ventilation improvements.
OAQDA approved a portion of the Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds that were allocated to Ohio, along with additional low-cost bond notes to provide the financial backing, allowing the campus to make improvements immediately and re-pay the bonds using energy cost savings. The measures in Kent State Stark’s plan initally was estimated at an annual savings of $182,000, recouping their original investment over a 10-year period, essentially providing the campus upgrades at no cost.
Kent State Stark’s energy conservation plan includes lighting retrofits, vending machine controls, HVAC upgrades, kitchen hood ventilation controls for The University Center and Emporium, high-velocity hand air-dryers and motion-controlled exhausts in restrooms, sensor-controlled ventilation in classrooms, building automation enhancements, retro-commissioning, variable air volume terminal controls and educational programming on energy use behavior. Early project estimates calculated an approximate annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 2,320 tons of carbon dioxide, 22 tons of sulfur dioxide and 4.35 tons of nitrogen oxide, which are equivalent to removing 308 cars from the road.
At the end of Fiscal Year 2013, the Year End Savings Report for Program Year Two of the Energy Conservation Project shows the actual results of this project to be truly amazing and have exceeded the earlier projections.
Brian Gardner
Sr. Facility Manager
131B Main Hall
330-244-3270
bgardne4@kent.edu