Independent Case Studies & Articles » Case study : The University of Auckland
Case study : The University of Auckland
Energy management pays off.
The University of Auckland now uses 41% less energy per student than it did in 1981, thanks to careful energy management. The university has achieved the reduction by continually monitoring its energy use, and using the results to identify and introduce targeted energy-efficiency measures.
Those measures include large-scale projects, such as upgrading the heating system, as well as low-cost initiatives such as introducing automated computer shutdowns. They are estimated to have saved the university more than $100 million since 1981 (based on 2008 energy rates).
According to environmental coordinator Lesley Stone, careful monitoring is the key to the university's energy-efficiency success.
"Monitoring and attention to detail by measuring your energy use is absolutely essential if you're going to identify problems and put solutions in place."
At first the university monitored its energy use by laboriously combining spreadsheet data from many different sources. But in 2002 it invested in EnergyPro, an information management system developed by Auckland company EnergyPro Solutions.
EnergyPro makes it possible to identify where, when and how much energy is being used. The system also makes it easier to keep track of the 261 separate monthly utility invoices associated with the university's four campuses. It automatically checks the accuracy of all the invoices and whether the correct tariff structures have been applied.