Feature
• Energy consumption falls by at least a third, “a normal day now is like Christmas”
• Uni’s gas prices double
• Huge effort to get ready for new term with lots of challenges like ventilation
• “Everything we’ve been doing for years has been turned on its head”
What University Energy Managers are saying about the impact of Covid-19 By Simon Burgess, Siemens
The International Energy Agency (IEA) called Covid-19 the “biggest shock to the global energy system in more than seven decades”; precipitating a fall in energy demand that would “dwarf the impact of the 2008 financial crisis and result in a record annual decline in carbon emissions of almost 8 per cent”.
Universities own and operate energy systems of such scale and complexity that they closely resemble an energy system of a small town. Many people would be surprised at just how big the higher education (HE) sector is in terms of energy. Last year for instance universities consumed more electricity than the iron and steel sector, and they produced more emissions than the ceramics industry.
The 100-odd energy managers that work in HE have a unique perspective on how Covid has impacted universities. They have data from meters, control systems and buildings; but they also have practical experience of locking down the campus, and the complications this presents.
I spoke to five energy managers to see how the crisis had affected them, and how they’re planning for September.
Energy demand down, but not as much as you’d think The five energy managers I spoke to all saw a big decline in energy consumption across their estates. On average they saw a 30% reduction in electricity and a 50% reduction in gas. “From a power perspective, a normal day in the lockdown is like a Christmas day,” said one.
The fall in demand was not evenly spread across each building type. “In teaching, we saw a much larger drop, but in accommodation it was less dramatic because we still have a few people living on campus, so the whole building was being heated or cooled.”
But the fall in consumption has left many of the energy managers I spoke to feeling underwhelmed. “I’ve been surprised by how much equipment is still running in buildings, despite no-one being in them.” This was echoed by another energy manager who said “it certainly demonstrates what your baseload is. We are still consuming 1MW electricity at any one time despite there being no users!”
With the buildings being empty, some energy managers are using Covid as a chance to consider what impact energy efficiency can
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have. “Covid-19 shows you that users can’t change that much. Energy efficiency is great but there comes a point where you need fundamental changes like a major renewables project.” This is a sentiment many others shared. “I’ve been an energy manager for 20 years,” one remarked, “and in that time I’ve never made a permanent impact on carbon from energy efficiency interventions. It has only come with a major renewables project.”
So how do you switch off a university?
Turns out there isn’t a big red button. The energy managers I spoke to were having to work through a series of challenges to switch off equipment on their estates. All of them shared the common ambition of reducing cost, but the practicalities of shutting down a university aren’t straightforward. “We had issues actually locking the estate down. Many buildings are still under lock and key, so it was a laborious task. Also, there are non-estates staff like academics who have keys, so we didn’t know if someone was in a building or not. This was a big problem both for safety, and in terms of whether the building needed heating and lighting or not.”
Most of the group said their BMS (Building Management System) had been a vital tool in avoiding unnecessary energy use and switching equipment off remotely. I asked them who they thought had the most vital job during Covid. The energy managers all agreed. “The BMS Engineer,” they said, had been “supremely important.”
But the BMS isn’t a panacea. “We’ve done everything from a BMS point of view, but there is a limit to what it can control,” was a sentiment shared by the group. Many systems within buildings are not controlled by the BMS so estates staff have had to walk the corridors to switch off lights and devices or investigate exceptions in energy reports. And not every university has a fancy new BMS with zillions of sensors. “If you’ve already got a good BMS and energy management system, Covid-19 is a great opportunity. But if you don’t have these it is a big problem.” Energy managers reeled at the number of things that they discovered on site walkarounds. “We noticed there were computers left on in the library. Why was this? Is it a technology issue or are we lacking good processes?”
Universities are reacting and adapting really well
Most of the universities seem to have embraced the crisis and are demonstrating real adaptability. “We’ve been forced to become more agile. Before the crisis we thought it would take two years to transition to Office 365, but we’ve just completed it in two days.”
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