by Shane Henson — June 15, 2012—Professionals within Siemens’ Building Technologies Division and Infrastructure & Cities Sector will soon begin taking major steps to help Florida A&M University (FAMU) aggressively go after achieving its short-term and long-range sustainability goals.
Siemens was chosen to implement a $12.2 million performance contract that will save the historically black college and university (HBCU) approximately $1.2 million in equivalent guaranteed annual energy savings. In 2009, FAMU engaged Siemens to deliver Phase 1, a $2.4 million project that successfully introduced the energy efficiency and financial benefits of performance contracting to the school.
Much broader in scope than Phase 1, Phase 2 aims to partially decentralize FAMU’s obsolete central steam plant heating system—an element of the overall project that will put local contractors to work and prompt a local mechanical systems company on the project to hire several additional employees to do the job, says Siemens.
The 18-month project, which began in May, includes a multitude of facility infrastructure improvements. These include the steam system infrastructure renovation, an advanced solar-thermal heating system for the swimming pool, central chilled water and steam plant improvements, building automation improvements, and ventilation and dehumidification improvements for the library.
Because plans call for partial decentralization of the steam heating plant and the implementation of other facility improvement measures to campus’ buildings, energy savings will be dramatic, says Siemens. For example, natural gas consumption is expected to be reduced 42.6%, which represents an annual equivalent savings of $706,204. Electricity consumption should be reduced 12.1%, creating some $563,909 in equivalent cost savings on top of reductions and savings that came from implementing Phase 1.
Siemens’ longstanding experience delivering performance contracts to institutions of higher education served to boost the confidence of school officials rightly anxious about the ambitions of the project. Siemens worked with FAMU facilities personnel to demonstrate how other universities with similar campus profiles in the southern United States have successfully decentralized their steam systems, resulting in increased efficiency.
