The facilities of Hobart and William Smith (HWS) Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, consist of over one hundred buildings. The buildings on campus serve many functions and were constructed at various times over the nearly 200-year history of the school.

THE OPPORTUNITY

PS&S performed a campus wide Energy Master Plan (EMP) to evaluate thermal and electrical energy requirements for all buildings, existing and future, and identify energy conservation and/or supply measures that would reduce HWS’ energy costs.

THE CHALLENGE

The occupancy and use of many of the buildings on the campus is changing to meet new academic, residential and support service functions as the institution grows. An increase in utility costs during the last few years prompted HWS to initiate this evaluation.

THE PS&S SOLUTION

The proposed EMP evaluated HWS’s energy use, campus distribution and building envelope, and thermal and electrical systems in an effort to increase efficiencies, change energy usage patterns, reduce consumption, increase on-campus supply or restructure utility connections and tariff structures to reduce operating costs. One of the recommendations of the EMP was to link boiler systems in separate buildings through a common distribution system. Cost was reduced through a reduction in the amount of equipment and in the staff required to operate the plant.