Energy prices and sea levels have something in common: they are both rising - and Brown is taking notice. Chris Powell, the University's recently hired energy manager, has been tasked with implementing a strategic energy plan, a guide that directs energy consumption, efficiency and procurement, which includes the purchase of certain forms of renewable energy.
The perennial issue of the cost of energy became more urgent last year when a huge spike in energy prices caused the University to exceed its annual energy budget by $3 million. Over the past 10 years, the University's energy costs have increased by an average of 7 percent each year. At this rate, the University's energy spending could exceed $50 million by 2020, according to a projection by the Department of Facilities Management. In order to curtail this trend, the University was forced to develop a more "proactive" energy management plan, Powell said.
The increase in energy costs also prompted the formation of the EmPower campaign, a movement led by the Brown Environmental Action Network, which urged the University to consider renewable energy options. "We decided it was unacceptable that Brown was so far behind other large institutions, including Wal-Mart," said Aden Van Noppen '09, a BEAN leader and member of the campaign.
Last spring, the University and members of the EmPower campaign paired up to establish the Environmental Task Force which included students, faculty and staff. The task force recommended that Brown hire an energy manager. Brown took the recommendation and hired Powell, "one of the best" in the field, according to Carlos Fernandez, the director of engineering for Facilities Management.
Powell, a former energy manager for the multi-billion dollar United Technologies Corporation, was responsible for significantly decreasing that company's greenhouse gas emissions, earning numerous awards for both himself and the company in the process.
Though Powell's hiring is a recent development, Facilities Management employees such as Fernandez and Resource Efficiency Manager Kurt Teichert have been working to improve Brown's energy efficiency for years. They continue to monitor campus-wide consumption and install more energy-efficient equipment - including light bulbs, electrical motors and piping - all over campus.
Despite his own enthusiasm, Teichert said many upgrade projects are not "something easy to get people excited about. But are they good for energy management? Absolutely."
70 percent of Brown's energy budget is spent on ventilation, heating and air conditioning. Law requires that big buildings - especially those with laboratories, such as the Life Sciences Building and the GeoChemistry Building - ventilate their entire indoor space seven times every hour, a process that includes drying, heating and cooling outside air. In response to this requirement, Brown is installing new carbon dioxide monitors in an effort to decrease greenhouse gas emissions associated with ventilation.
Exploring renewable energy optionsWhile efficiency in consumption is crucial to an energy plan, the increasing popularity of renewable energy is prompting the University to examine investments in alternative energy options as well.
There are multiple ways to invest in the renewable energy market, and one of the most feasible options for Brown at the moment is developing a Contract for Differences, Teichert said. A CFD is a futures contract arrangement in which the University partners with a renewable energy producer - such as a wind farm - so it can buy energy at a fixed rate in the future, thus avoiding the volatility of the conventional energy market. At the same time, the initial University investment provides capital for a renewable energy producer, which in turn increases the amount of available renewable energy on the national grid.
"Right now we rely on an unstable market of fossil fuels; prices are going up," Van Noppen said. "By creating a Contract for Differences, we are hedging our risks. ... The sooner we invest in renewable energy, the more economically beneficial it will be for us," she added.
Teichert is currently examining the possibility of a CFD that will connect the University with wind farms in upstate New York.
Students stay involvedFernandez and Powell have stressed their eagerness to communicate with students on the energy issue. They have played active roles in facilitating the development of a University committee made up of faculty, staff and students that will conduct a long-term discussion about energy management strategies at Brown.
Other students, along with the Undergraduate Council of Students, are also taking initiative. UCS President John Gillis '07 said he is "trying to make (energy consumption) an issue for UCS because it is an issue for students."
