A “Green Committee” at the Center for High Tech Materials (CHTM) on the University of New Mexico campus implemented energy conservation initiatives that led to an energy reduction of 21 percent in the facility in about one year, reports UNM News.
The Green Committee includes CHTM professors, students and researchers.
One of the first projects of the committee was to upgrade the HVAC system with new mechanical controls on air handlers that serve the offices on the east, west and south side of the building. The committee also retrofitted an office, a classroom, and three conference rooms with LED lighting, and installed occupancy sensors in the laboratory service corridors, classrooms and restrooms.
Following the completion of HVAC and lighting upgrades, the green committee implemented an aggressive equipment shut-down schedule so that heating and cooling systems are not running while the building is typically unoccupied.
For its next step, the committee will reduce the air changes in 24 labs - from 20 air changes per hour to six per hour. They will also install occupancy sensors on lab hoods so they will go to minimum flow if no one is standing in front of them.
