Skip Navigation

University at Buffalo - The State University of New York
  1. Home
  2. About
    1. FAQ
    2. Staff
  3. Policies
  4. Services
    1. Energy Conservation Projects
    2. Utility Costs and Consumption
    3. UB Chevron Energy Project 2005-2008

Home > Departments > Utilities Management > Services > UB Chevron Energy Project 2005-2008

UB Chevron Energy Project 2005-2008

Chevron Energy Solutions
Energy Conservation Project, 2005 – 2008

Overview:

Chevron Energy Solutions, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., is an Energy Services Company (ESCO) with headquarters based in Overland Park, Kansas and a regional office located near Philadelphia. The ESCO implemented an $11.8M comprehensive energy conservation project at UB South campus in the academic buildings. The project will produce a conservatively estimated savings of $1.2M annually.

Scope of Work:

The scope of work included: heat recovery improvements at several buildings, retrofit to high efficiency lighting at over 25,000 fixtures (all buildings), energy efficient motors and variable speed drives (several buildings), energy management system upgrades (most buildings), steam system upgrades (several buildings), chiller replacements at four buildings, lab fume hood system upgrades at two buildings, central fan system upgrades at several buildings, a new photovoltaic power generation system at one North building, Norton Hall. A comprehensive project allows savings from the fast paying improvements to help finance the slower paying projects, allowing us to do more energy improvement or infrastructure related work.
Project Finances:

No upfront money was required from the University or tax payers to accomplish this entire project as it pays for itself from energy savings dollars. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will contribute over $1.4M in energy efficiency incentives to promote the project. The remainder of the funding came from a 15-year NYSERDA endorsed loan package from GE Capital. Payments to GE Capital come out of our utility budget once work is complete. The project was designed to produce a positive cash flow each year to insure no harm comes to our utility budget.
Project Benefits:

This project is producing multiple benefits to the University in addition to energy dollar savings. These include: better interior lighting, safer lab fume hood systems, improved temperature control and comfort, maintenance dollar savings, capital improvements, and a reduction in air pollution caused by the University’s reliance of fossil fuels for power and thermal needs.
Lessons Learned:

Working with an ESCO helped us negotiate a value-engineered comprehensive project with the current ESCO team. Normally a lack of funds, time and technical staff would prevent a project of this scale to be undertaken in such a short timeframe.

Project Status:
Substantially completed spring of 2008.