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UAM To Receive $2.514 Million
In Economic Stimulus Funding For Energy-Saving Projects (8/11/09)
MONTICELLO, AR — The University of Arkansas at Monticello will receive
$2.514 million from the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund
energy-saving projects for the campus that could result in an annual savings
of $300,000 on the university’s utility bills.
Governor Mike Beebe made the announcement Monday afternoon as part of the
distribution of $42.5 million in funds allocated for Arkansas’ higher
education institutions. Beebe also announced an additional $26.6 million in
funding or potential funding for other Arkansas projects.
“Our fiscally responsible education funding has given Arkansas more options
for our education recovery funds,” Beebe said. “Investing money in higher
education will pay benefits for Arkansas students long after this economic
stimulus has ended.”
UAM Chancellor Jack Lassiter called the funding “critical to our ongoing
efforts to make the campus more energy efficient and cost effective. This is
vitally important as we seek to offset the rising cost of energy. We
appreciate Governor Beebe and his staff for identifying these critical
projects and for their efforts in navigating through the massive amount of
paperwork involved in distributing these funds.”
According to Lassiter, UAM spends approximately $1.6 million a year on
utilities. To combat rising energy costs, the university hired the
engineering firm of Tour Andover Controls to perform an investment grade
energy audit of the campus, which was completed in January 2008. From that
audit came a list of projects engineers say will save the university as much
as $300,000 a year in energy costs.
Those projects will be funded by the economic stimulus funding and include
the replacement of a 20-year-old air-cooled chiller at the Memorial
Classroom Building with a new 200-ton chiller connected to the campus
district cooling loop. The new chiller will be more energy efficient and
will reduce campus peak electrical demand. The University will also replace
the existing 25-year-old steam boilers and 200-ton chiller at the John F.
Gibson University Center with high efficiency hot water boilers and a new
energy-efficient chiller. Replacement of the current chiller will eliminate
the use of a unit which relies on R-11 refrigerant, which has been
identified as an ozone depleting chemical.
UAM will also replace and retrofit 3,300 existing light fixtures and install
282 occupancy sensors to control the existing lighting throughout campus,
which engineers estimate will save more than $50,000 annually. The
University also has plans to install a centralized control system for campus
heating and cooling which is projected to provide additional energy savings.
Lassiter praised Jim Hudgins, director of UAM’s physical plant, for
“identifying the need for an energy audit. Jim played an integral role in
this project and thanks to his foresight and planning, we are in a position
to save valuable resources that can be applied to other areas of the
campus.”
UAM was one of 10 public four-year institutions in Arkansas to receive
funding from the economic stimulus. |
