Dive Brief:
- Trane Technologies announced Thursday that it is working with Northern Illinois University to develop and implement an energy saving and emissions reduction program at the institution’s campus in DeKalb, Illinois.
- Over the next 18 months, the university will implement upgrades that include LED lighting, water conservation measures, building weatherization improvements, electric vehicle charging stations, solar photovoltaic installations, thermal energy storage for cooling, smart HVAC building controls and high-efficiency heating and cooling system upgrades, according to a news release.
- These improvements are expected to help NIU reduce energy consumption by over 26% and curtail greenhouse gas emissions by 11%, marking “measurable progress” toward its goal of halving emissions by fiscal year 2030, compared with a 2019 baseline, Trane Technologies said.
Dive Insight:
The partnership aligns with NIU’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, established last year, to identify initiatives it can adopt to reduce emissions from its buildings and operations.
NIU’s main campus in DeKalb, Illinois, consists of 118 buildings totaling over 7.6 million gross square feet, according to the university’s website. The campus improvements that are being undertaken will lower greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 6,552 cars off the road or planting 455,169 trees, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, Trane said. The EPA estimates that a typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.29 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, based on an average fuel economy of roughly 22.2 miles per gallon and an annual travel distance of 10,917 miles a year. This translates to a potential for NIU to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by over 28,000 metric tons each year.
The updates will be funded through a combination of federal, state, utility, energy and operational savings, per the release. NIU is also leveraging energy savings performance contracting, allowing the university to repay Trane over time for the upgrades funded upfront by the company. For repayments, NIU would use cost savings from reduced energy consumption and utility bills, according to the release. This funding model eliminates the need for upfront capital investments, enabling NIU to allocate resources to other priorities while achieving long-term sustainability goals, the organizations said.
Last year, NIU requested about $164 million from the Illinois Board of Higher Education for 15 capital renewal projects that would include reconfiguring its East Campus chiller water systems and replacing the DeKalb campus boiler systems in three phases, with the last two phases projected to cost roughly $48.1 million, according to a board report from a special meeting of the Northern Illinois Board of Trustees held in November 2023.
The improvements NIU will implement in collaboration with Trane will also involve integrating “significant social impact elements,” including new workforce development opportunities for students through capstone projects, internships, and employment opportunities,” with an emphasis on energy career paths, community engagement and STEM education, Trane said in the release.
The upgrade effort is currently underway, the company noted.
