Energy Use for January 2021

3 Feb 2021

Welcome to the first of our monthly energy bulletin where we summarise the energy performance of our Estate. In the coming months we hope to inform you of the energy trends across the Estate, the measures that the UCC community are undertaking to reduce and conserve energy as well as an update on ongoing energy conservation projects.

Welcome to the first of our monthly energy bulletin where we summarise the energy performance of our Estate. In the coming months we hope to inform you of the energy trends across the Estate, the measures that the UCC community are undertaking to reduce and conserve energy as well as an update on ongoing energy conservation projects.

19 energy projects are planned for 2020/21, ranging from lighting controls upgrades to the installation of an air source heat pump in the ORB. If successfully implemented we are forecasting a 5% reduction in our total energy use for 2020/21, when compared to 2018/19. The obvious caveat to this forecast is the ongoing impact of the COVID risk reduction measures and building opening times. Good ventilation has been identified as a key mitigation tool in reducing the risk of aerosol transmission of the virus and as a result our ventilation systems are running on full fresh air for 2 hours before, during and 2 hours after the building opening times. Based on the best available data this has the potential to increase our electrical consumption by 5-25% and our gas consumption by 50-100%, wiping away the last decade of energy savings. Working closely with our staff and students, the Estates office is closely monitoring our daily energy consumption and building utilisation to see if the impact of the increased ventilation loads can be reduced.

In the meantime if you have an energy conservation idea or are working on energy related research that you would like featured in upcoming bulletins please contact us at greencampus@ucc.ie