RIT Campus Improvements

Joe CooperDan Crossen

Diego GuineaAlex Peterson

Mike Walsh

Goals of Primary Stakeholder Lower RIT’s carbon footprint Carbon Neutral by 2030 Lower energy consumption of all kinds Improve efficiencies wherever possible Implement improvements for Ice Arenas Promote awareness of energy consumption

Enid Cardinal – RIT Senior sustainability Advisor

Hockey Team & associated parties Students / Spectators Building Maintenance Construction companies RIT Financial Department

Stakeholders

Ritter Arena is one of the largest energy drains on this campus◦ Must keep a sheet of ice frozen 24/7◦ Keeping indoor environment at suitable conditions

for spectators (Air around 60°F)◦ Simultaneous heating and cooling can be counter-

productive, and waste serious energy.

◦ And how is RIT planning to reduce the overall energy consumption? By adding…

Background Information on Problem #1: Hockey Arena Energy Consumption

Another Hockey Arena

According to ASHRAE data, hockey arenas consume an enormous amount of energy◦ Average rink: 1.5 Million kWh/year◦ Most Efficient: .8 Million kWh/year◦ Least Efficient: 2.4 Million kWh/year

Some arenas in Canada have reduced their overall energy consumption by 25-50% by lowering the overall temperature of the arena.

There are only 2 LEED certified Ice Arenas in existence.

Hockey Arena Data

The Zamboni, powered by propane fuel, re-surfaces the ice.

Some other zambonis are powered by diesel.

Some college hockey players in other arenas have been hospitalized by the Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Dioxide emissions left by the Zamboni’s emissions.

After the Zamboni does it rounds, there have been recorded values of 50+ PPM of CO in other arenas, well above acceptable levels of around 30 PPM.

Problem #2: Emissions Inside the Hockey Rink

Ice dumped in parking lot to melt ~ potential cooling source.

3 Deposits per hockey event

Complaints/eye sore

Problem #3: The Zamboni Ice Pile

Background Research

- Stores energy in form of ice.- Improves air conditioning efficiency- Lower cost for electricity at night

- Lowers energy usage about 43.2 kW-hrs during the day.- Uses about 32.0 kW-hours at night.

Ice Bear Energy

Few places on campus monitor their energy use◦ Only some of the newer buildings

Energy usage monitoring per room and per floor/area is desired so improvements can be made in high consumption locations.

No data showing current electricity consumption◦ RIT has some plug devices that can be used to do research

about outlet energy consumption

Some offices and buildings have movement sensors that help reduce energy consumption.

Problem #4: Campus-Wide Energy Consumption Monitoring

20% - 30% of the energy is ‘wasted’ due to poor usage◦ Equipment not used remains plugged to the outlets (‘Ghost Loads’

- Ex. Computer, chargers, etc)

Water at RIT is cheap but there is no monitoring of the water usage except when water comes in and out of the campus. ◦ Lots of water is wasted and this is not yet quantified

Building Temperature:◦ Energy is wasted in heating or cooling academic and residential

buildings because thermostats are poorly located. ◦ Temperature in building need to be uniform to avoid losses. ◦ An ideal temperature in buildings is between 68 and 72 degrees.

Energy Consumption

Core Concepts for Implementation

Courses: Heat Transfer Fluid Mechanics Circuits and Hardware HVAC

AFFINITY DIAGRAMLower Energy Consumption Reduce Indoor Emissions Identify poor behaviors

Of New Ice Area

RIT goal of carbon neutral by 2030 Spectators cannot be sick from game Un-Supervised Use (leave lights on)

Reduce Running Costs of Arena CO levels above requirements Varying Room Energy Usage

Green Certifications of new buildings Players become sick occasionally Handicapped Doors Stay Open

Chargers left plugged in

Space heaters

Reduced Campus Utility Usage Reduce Physical Waste

Electrical Costs Are 50% of Total Utilities

Pile of Ice behind arena from Zamboni

Higher Energy Cost/kW-hr during Day Unknown Building water usage

Maintain Current Tuition

Goals of Secondary Stakeholders Improve the quality of the Circuits and

Electronics lab Create a ‘project build’ space for

engineering clubs on campus Create an easier way to interface with

Student Government Create an easier way to interface with Papa

John’s (for club pizza sales) Improve and fix known problems with the

registration system

Nick Hensel Engineering Clubs (members and officers) Papa John’s Student population (registration)

Meghan McDonald (interview scheduled for Monday)

Secondary Stakeholders

Summary: Possible Areas of Improvement

Ice Arena◦ High energy usage of arena as a whole

Zamboni◦ High indoor pollutant levels

(CO,CO2,NO,NO2,etc…)◦ The Ice pile

Monitoring of current “energy hot spots”◦ Target where energy is being used in order to

identify “Ghost Loads”◦ Unknown usage: Dorms by building, floors,

rooms

Enid Cardinal – Senior Sustainability Adviser at RIT

Dan Krawczyk – Project Engineer at Ice Builders, Inc.

Stuart Hughes – Ice Arena Supervision Phil Amsler – Sustainability Advocate for

Students (Former SG President)

Contacts

NPR Story about Emissions◦ http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/01/147744783/air-pollution-in-a

n-unlikely-spot-an-indoor-hockey-arena Ice Rink Efficiency Document

◦ http://www.touchstoneenergy.com/efficiency/bea/Documents/Ice_Rinks.pdf

ASHRAE Article:◦ http://bookstore.ashrae.biz/journal/download.php?file=nichols060109.pd

f The Energy Management Manual for Arena and Rink

Operators:◦ http://www.saskpower.com/save_power/assets/rink_operation_manual.pd

f GHOST LOADS:

◦ http://www.altestore.com/howto/Renewable-Energy-Energy-Efficiency/Energy-Efficiency-and-Your-Home/a40/

References