By Maureen McMahon
The University of Chicago is proud to announce that it has received the 2023 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence – Energy Management Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
UChicago Energy and Utilities Manager Brian Bozell stated, “The ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards have helped to build momentum and support for the University’s energy management program. Some major accomplishments from the past year include the release of the 2022-2030 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan and completing the preventative maintenance and commissioning initiative in the last of the lab buildings.”
“This award is shared with partners throughout campus who tracked and reduced energy use and shows success towards a high priority for the University,” he said.
“As we accelerate historic efforts to address climate change, public-private partnerships will be essential to realizing the scale of our ambition,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I applaud this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.”
Each year, the ENERGY STAR program honors a select top group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions in the transition to a clean energy economy. ENERGY STAR award winners lead their industries in the production, sale, and adoption of energy-efficient products, homes, buildings, services, and strategies. These efforts are essential to fighting the climate crisis, protecting public health, and creating a clean energy future for everyone.
The University of Chicago was among only two institutions of higher education to be awarded the distinction as a national leader in energy management, alongside Northwestern University.
In 2022, the University completed efficiency projects for its buildings that used the most energy and expanded its work with the ENERGY STAR program. Key 2022 accomplishments include:
- Completing the penultimate year of a preventative maintenance and commissioning effort for the 38 buildings on campus that contribute to 80% of total energy use, with a focus on lab spaces that account for 40% of University greenhouse gas emissions.
- Expanding engagement with and communications focused on ENERGY STAR, including participation in the ENERGY STAR Higher Education Benchmarking Initiative to provide colleges and universities free peer comparisons of energy and water performance.
- Communicating the value of the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager®, a website for tracking building performance, on higher education sector webinars.
- Earning ENERGY STAR certification for Rosenwald Hall.
- Holding an ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings competition for seven residence halls to see who could reduce energy and water usage the most from a certain baseline and date.
- Releasing a new Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan that aims to halve the University’s absolute emissions by 2030, with significant reductions from building energy efficiency.
Winners are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners. View a complete list of 2023 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR’s awards programs.
About the University of Chicago Sustainability and Energy
The Office of Sustainability and Facilities Operations, both within Facilities Services, collaborate on the University’s sustainability goals and partner with students, faculty, and staff across campus to achieve a sustainable University of Chicago.
Energy Services professionals conduct energy audits, implement energy conservation measures (ECM), and engage occupants with behavioral strategies to reduce energy consumption. They are an integral part of new project planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance. The energy team follows ENERGY STAR Guidelines for energy management and relies on ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® to track usage, identify improvement opportunities, and validate successes. The University’s energy management information system also interfaces directly with Portfolio Manager, allowing for streamlined energy reporting. Please visit the Energy Landing Page for accomplishments and awards, energy dashboards, energy plans, news, ENERGY STAR Partnership information, and the Campus Engagement plan.
About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Thousands of industrial, commercial, utility, state, and local organizations rely on their partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver cost-saving energy efficiency solutions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve more than 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. Read more on ENERGY STAR’s impacts.