The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has completed energy efficiency projects at two State University of New York (SUNY) campuses—the University at Buffalo and Upstate Medical University—that will save a combined $1.4 million in annual energy costs.
The $27 million in upgrades were carried out under Gov. Cuomo’s Build Smart NY program, a statewide initiative to increase energy efficiency in public buildings 20 percent by 2020.
The energy-saving improvements completed at the University at Buffalo include more than $20 million in HVAC upgrades and interior and exterior lighting enhancements. Construction on the improvements began in June 2012.
Energy efficiency improvements at SUNY Upstate include HVAC upgrades, interior and exterior lighting enhancements, boiler controls and hot water upgrades. In addition, the improvements feature a 50 KW solar photovoltaic array, which is part of the Governor’s NY-Sun initiative to scale up solar deployment across the state. Construction on the energy efficiency project began in May 2012.
The projects at both schools were supported by National Grid, with funding that totaled nearly $900,000. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) also provided support in the amount of $69,000.
NYPA is partnering with SUNY to improve energy efficiency at campuses throughout the state and is currently moving forward with construction on projects at 289 facilities. Those energy efficiency upgrades, when completed, will save taxpayers more than $4.6 million a year.
NYPA and SUNY are also coordinating on a project as part of EE-INC, a new program under the Governor’s Build Smart NY initiative to promote the use of commercial, but not yet widely deployed, energy efficiency technologies in New York State buildings. The project involves testing four virtual audit software programs in 34 metered SUNY buildings on four campuses (Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Old Westbury) to assess the software’s ability to quantify where energy is used in each facility and predict or recommend areas where energy efficiency improvements can be made. If successful, the software could be adopted at government facilities throughout the state.