Summary

Energy management and sustainability are key priorities for the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) as it strives to become an industry leader in energy efficiency. By harnessing EnergyCAP’s software and analytics, UTMB is driving energy efficiency, uncovering savings opportunities and has storytelling data at their fingertips. Streamlining things like prioritizing cost savings project and applying for grant funding. UTMB is using data to achieve its energy mission—provide reliable utilities to support our healthcare, research and academic partners on campus—and vision—become an industry leader in energy management through the implementation of data analytics while improving our sustainability. The content below summarizes a presentation by Sean Finegan, Business Operations Manager at UTMB, at IDEA Campus Energy 2024: “Conserve & Save with Real-Time Building Data” which you can watch here.

About UTMB 

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is an academic research medical institution equipped with an expansive energy infrastructure designed to meet the extensive demands of its operations. Spread across four campuses and over 35 outlying clinics throughout the south Texas area, UTMB’s vast footprint requires a robust utility management system.

UTMB’s energy systems are closely monitored by more than 350 purchased utility meters and over 100 submeters, a number that continues to grow as UTMB identifies and addresses any gaps in its energy monitoring capabilities.

Energy infrastructure overview:

• Academic and medical research facility on the island
• Over 10 million square feet of space
• Four campuses 
• Over 35 outlying clinics in the South Houston and South Texas area 
• Three central utility plants for chilled water, heating, hot water, and steam production to support the campus’s HVAC and sterile processing needs. 
• Two five-megawatt combustion turbines were installed post-Hurricane Ike to mitigate power loss during hurricanes. 
• Dedicated high-pressure gas line to UTMB ensures operation continuity during grid power dips 
• Two thermal energy storage tanks 
• Expanding utility metering:
  • Over 350 purchased utility meters
  • Over 100 submeters… and growing!

Background

Sean Finegan shared that UTMB Energy’s main mission is to “provide reliable utilities to support our healthcare research and academic partners across campus.” Over the last several years, UTMB Energy has locked down its utility processes and is now able to focus on their energy vision to become an industry leader in energy management through the implementation of data analytics while improving our sustainability.

Identifying savings

In August 2023, the electricity market (ERCoT) was highly volatile with prices averaging $200/MWh and spiking over $5,000/MWh. The data in SmartAnalytics revealed that these spikes typically started around 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. every day. 

To save on energy costs, UTMB adjusted the setback times for our non-critical buildings (institutional support and academic facilities) to 1:00 p.m., instead of the usual times after classes or end of day.

The top right image shows data from August 22nd. The green band represents predicted energy use considering past usage and weather data. The black line illustrates actual usage. After changing the setback time, the black line dips at 1:00 p.m., showing reduced energy use during peak times as a result of the implemented setbacks.

Applying for funding

Plant renovation grant application, building the case using data

In an effort to modernize and enhance its energy infrastructure, UTMB looks to secure essential grant funding. In this scenario, UTMB was seeking BRIC Funding (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) to finance their proposed Central Plant Renovation. Sean states that “EnergyCAP’s comprehensive data significantly aided our project applications and savings initiatives.”

UTMB had been using EnergyCAP’s UtilityManagement for several years but realized a need for more detailed energy analytics beyond utility bill data and decided to add SmartAnalytics and CarbonHub. This integration provided comprehensive data for immediate energy-saving actions and long-term sustainability projects.  

UTMB’s central utility plant is “well past its useful life. It was built in 1964. It is not mitigated for hurricanes. It’s an energy hog and still use R-22 refrigerant…” UTMB needed data to justify replacements.

Sean explains that UTMB was “able to go into UtilityManagement and pull the external vendor invoices to get the total usage in one fiscal year.” With that, they could see the precise monthly energy usage over the entire year. Sean then used CarbonHub to see what the CO2 emissions were for this particular building in a fiscal year. With some quick calculations [UTMB] found that replacing those chillers would result in a 7.3 million kwh per year savings, which is equivalent to 5,195 metric tons of CO2…. Sean goes on to boast that “it only took us 20 minutes to pull this information as opposed to multiple days or hours like it would have before EnergyCAP. It was great to just go to one-stop shop to find all the data, pull it in 20 minutes and send it back over to the consultant to use it for the application process.”

Conclusion

EnergyCAP’s suite of solutions offers UTMB the ability to meticulously document and analyze utility usage and associated emissions across its expansive operations. With the granular insights provided by EnergyCAP, UTMB is empowered to construct compelling narratives for grant applications, showcasing the urgent need and expected impact of proposed energy projects.  

UTMB’s energy data substantiates the environmental and economic benefits of energy improvement projects. Using EnergyCAP’s comprehensive data management UTMB can easily demonstrate the tangible savings and emissions reductions achievable, bolstering the institution’s case for support from stakeholders and funding from grant-giving entities.