After nearly a year of renovations, the five campus buildings with the highest energy consumption rates are estimated to use less energy and save the university millions in energy costs.
USC selected global energy company Siemens as a partner in 2022, and construction began on five campus buildings in spring 2024. Thomas Cooper Library, Jones Physical Science Center, Swearingen Engineering Center, the Close-Hipp Building and 1600 Hampton underwent changes to HVAC and temperature control, lighting and insulation systems. The renovations are estimated to save the university over $8 million over the next 15 years, Siemens Accounts Manager Keith Byrom said.
USC chose to work with Siemens because of its ability to demonstrate fiscal and environmental benefits of the renovations, Associate Vice President of Facilities Services Jason Lambert said.
“Siemens ... proposed things that were achievable as part of this process,” Lambert said. “It's not just about saving energy, although that's important to us. It's equally as important for us to understand the fiscal impacts of the projects that we're doing.”
The renovations are part of the larger campus-wide Green and Garnet initiative, Lambert said.
“The Green and Garnet phase one was something that we approached as an understanding that we have a significant number of buildings on campus that are older in age, and we have an opportunity, if not even a responsibility, to become more efficient in the use of energy within those buildings,” Lambert said.
To determine what needed to be renovated in each building, Siemens used a testing method called retro-commissioning, Lambert said. Retro-commissioning tests the existing infrastructure systems of a building and determines which building control systems are working properly, and which need improvement, which helps ensure that systems are behaving as expected, Lambert said.
“These systems, in order for the building to be functioning correctly, (are) really, really critical," Lambert said. "So retro-commissioning is important to us.”
Most of the construction was done with the goal of not obstructing the functions of the buildings, Byrom said. Siemens worked with USC to create a construction schedule that was as minimally disruptive as possible, Byrom said.
“Anytime that we're doing an energy conservation project, of course, you don't want to affect the students or the faculty or staff, and so we, the project management team, come up with a plan for implementation, which is reviewed with the institution…so that we don't affect the classrooms and those type of things,” Byrom said.
Fourth-year mechanical engineering student Crain Robertson said he was not aware that any renovations had taken place.
“I understand that all of those (renovations) will make (the buildings) energy efficient, but I don't think students will recognize that unless they're told that the changes have been made,” Robertson said. “I think that the changes have been so subtle that they're almost unrecognizable if you're not looking for them, or unless you're paying the energy bill.”
Lambert said that while building occupants may not be aware that renovations have occurred, the efficiency measures will increase the comfort and functionality of the buildings.
“Most everything that we've done is out of sight, out of mind,” Lambert said. “At Thomas Cooper two years ago, they were having comfort, humidity and temperature issues. We didn't receive those sorts of complaints this past summer, so that means people were comfortable and it wasn't too hot.”
As renovation nears completion, Siemens will transition into a “monitoring and verification period” to make sure that the efficiency measures are providing the expected return on investment, Lambert said in a statement. If the expected savings are not reached, Siemens is contractually required to pay the difference to the university, Lambert said.
“Ultimately the entire project cost will be paid back,” Lambert said. “(Siemens) goes so far as to calculate energy saved for each step of the way. So they're pretty serious about payback because contractually, they're obligated to meet certain payback requirements. Essentially, if we don't meet our energy requirements, they're at risk to ensure that the university is made whole.”
Byrom said that the monitoring and verification phase will last 15 years, the amount of time in which USC expects to recoup the money spent. Siemens will use control systems within the buildings to monitor the energy and money saved, Byrom said.
“The control systems ... (analyze) the data to make sure the savings are being maintained,” Byrom said. “We review that quarterly, and we have an annual report that will be given to the university.”
Lambert said he had “no doubt” the renovations will achieve their intended goals, but the university will take time to ensure that the renovations are working as expected before working to make other campus buildings more efficient.
“At this point in time, we're just kind of ramping up (Green and Garnet) phase one, if you will,” Lambert said. “But at the end of the day, whether it's part of a formal energy conservation program, or just something we're doing in our routine ... we're always looking for opportunities to be more efficient with energy, and that's part of us being good stewards of the environment, good neighbors and good community partners.”