Sustainability & Energy
Our Mission
Sustainability is a service. Supporting the University in providing a world-class education through safe, comfortable, and reliable building operations for the lowest long-term financial, societal, and environmental costs.
About Us
Associate Director
In her role as Assoc Director, Lissa brings together stakeholders to identify and prioritize campus-scale opportunities for carbon reduction. She develops the high-ranking projects to a shovel-ready state and provides technical support to those projects throughout their life cycle.
Lissa has a degree in Civil Engineering from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Lissa's professional experience spans design, construction, and project management for various utilities. She has worked as an engineering consultant for municipal wastewater treatment in the Washington DC area and in compressor station design for midstream natural gas based out of Houston. Lissa has also served as a field engineer on-site in Danville, Kentucky and enjoys seeing construction bring ideas to life.
Lissa is passionate about working with other people to make the world a better place. She enjoys learning languages (working on Swedish now!) and discussing sustainability and social issues.
Energy Analyst
Rob reads meters, records consumption, and is improving our internal meter repair capacity. As a meter reader, Rob gets to walk around campus every month to read hundreds of meters that still record manually (slow but steady transition to move to automated meters).
Rob loves bikes, woodworking, and can start rattling off jokes at the drop of a hat.
Operations Program Manager
Colin leverages his field experience and corporate planning expertise to engage stakeholders, foster collaboration, and solve complex operational challenges. Within Facilities Management, he connects sustainability and efficiency initiatives with funding and project support to deliver outcomes that advance the University’s Climate Action Plan and Climate 2030 goals.
Colin holds a master’s degree in Earth Resource Management, a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and an Electronics Technician certificate. His diverse background includes wellbore logging, capital planning, and Arctic construction of climate infrastructure. Most recently, he contributed to Great Salt Lake meteorological instrumentation and air quality operations, and taught graduate and undergraduate lab courses at the University of Utah.
Outside of work, Colin pursues a growing collection of amateur hobbies, spending time with his family outdoors, and a keen passion for avalanche awareness and education.
Engineering Project Manager
Carter provides technical expertise for mechanical systems, leads energy efficiency projects, and supports new construction. He has a background in institutional energy management and has contributed engineering support to energy projects across the country, especially for Universities and Industrial manufacturing facilities. His experience in district heating and cooling systems makes him a great fit for optimizing energy distribution on campus.
Carter holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Syracuse University in New York. Carter is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and an AEE Certified Energy Manager (CEM).
Carter is passionate about both technology and the outdoors, spending his free time on a personal projects like a Lithium Ion powered electric boat, out in the Wasatch mountains mountain biking, or floating down the Green or Colorado rivers.
Energy Analyst
As a facility systems technician, Charles validates data accuracy, identifies meters needing commissioning, and conducts time sensitive data entry for campus billing. Having received his GIS Certificate from the University of Utah, he’s excited to incorporate his interests in sustainability and asset management to benefit Facilities Management and the superb S&E team.
Charles enjoys all things cycling and the occasional carpool lane.
Engineering Manager
Sean is strengthening the teams’ engineering support, including responsibilities with the development of new improvement projects, HVAC guidelines, and the evaluation of technology changes essential to reach the University’s commitment to carbon neutrality.
Sean is passionate about improving the lives of others in current and future generations through sustainable practices. He is excited to help the University of Utah become a carbon-neutral university and improve the air quality in the greater Salt Lake area. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University and over 10 years of experience working in a variety of technical roles. Sean is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and LEED accredited professional (LEED AP BD+C).
Sean enjoys baking and cooking in his free time. Sean claims to bake a fantastic beet chocolate cake with a whipped cream cheese frosting and cherry topping, and hopefully he will be sharing his talents soon.
Data Architect
Joan has a mixed background, combining electronic projects for an electrical metering company, business management, and as a system engineer for a semiconductor company. Joan recently graduated with a Masters of Science of Information Systems from the University of Utah, which with his Electronic Engineering Bachelor's degree, makes him an excellent fit for the Facility Management team.
Joan is working on building a new system for the team, including the backend (database) and the frontend (application - user interface). This new system will supply the department with reliable and updated information, providing countless possibilities for data analysis expanding improvements and insights about university utilities.
Joan is passionate about technology and innovations, bringing new ideas and creative solutions to projects.
Sustainability Analyst
Geri delivers reports on University of Utah sustainability and energy performance to building managers and their teams across campus, publicizes S&E successes and lessons learned, and is the steward of performance data.
Geri holds an Associate’s degree in Energy Management from Salt Lake Community College. She first joined the University in 2015.
She is proud to be a contributing member of the Sustainability and Energy team that is doing such important work on campus, and is particularly motivated by the need to make a difference on the environment.
What We Do
Energy
Promote maximum energy-efficiency at the U and reduce energy costs, using utility procurement, incentives, and rebates.
Water
Support efforts to reduce water consumption in buildings and in campus landscaping.
other utilities
Use role as utility billing partner to identify other improvements in utility usage, such as electricity, natural gas, water, process water, sewer, and stormwater/street.
WHY WE DO IT
carbon neutrality
Work towards making the University of Utah Carbon Neutral by 2040.
wellness
Better local wellness with improved air quality for Utahns. Promote wellness and productivity for building occupants by improving lighting and ventilation.
Financial Vitality
Improve operational costs, productivity, asset lifecycle costs, and maintenance costs. Reduces equipment and material purchasing.
Our Services
Planning
The Sustainability & Energy group supports Strategic Plans and Policy to ensure we are working strategically towards electrification and carbon neutrality.
This includes the following initiatives:
- Maintain and continuously improve the University’s Energy Management Plan with focus on reduction of consumption and costs for all University facilities
- Analyze systems upgrades to identify economic impact of future conversions, end-of-life replacement, etc.
- Lead working group process to identify and prioritize projects that support campus’ sustainable operations through the SEED2SOIL program
Design & Construction
The Sustainability & Energy group supports projects during Design & Construction to ensure we are maximizing incentives, developing standards, and can take advantage of reduced costs due to scale.
This includes the following initiatives:
Administration of Utility Incentives
- Customized incentives review for Programs and Projects to identify potential rebate opportunities
- Serve as point of contact with incentive agents on new construction and major renovation projects on campus
- Provide documentation as requested, schedule site-visits with agents as necessary, and serve as liaison between the University project manager, architects, contractor, and the utility
Subject-Matter Tech Support
- Advise on system selection and standards compliance for Metering, Mechanical Engineering (building controls), Electrical Engineering (lighting), and Energy
- Support selection of systems, including analysis, review, and recommendations for design and planning
- Review and analyze Commissioning and Recommissioning reports, test and balance reports, and Measuring & Verification (M&V) information to identify energy issues
- Collaborate with Campus Design and Construction to assure facility and construction adheres to University and State of Utah standards
Sustainability Standards Management
- Support development of designs, standards, and guidance developments – such as controls standards and taxonomies; energy/metering requirements.
Energy Conservation & Building Performance
Energy Use Intensity
Operations and Maintenance
The Sustainability & Energy group supports projects during Operations & Maintenance to ensure we are supporting ongoing metering; developing benchmark reports; and using targeted analytics to proactively identify issues and opportunity for savings.
This includes the following initiatives:
Benchmark Reports and Other Support Tools
- Report and make recommendations energy use indexes for all campus assets.
- Perform comparative energy use analysis between University assets and those of other academic institutions of similar type.
Monitoring-Based Commissioning
- Identifies opportunities for reducing energy consumption based on cost/benefit analysis.
- Manage building energy audits to identify potential cost saving project initiatives.
Prescriptive Projects, Equipment, and Supplies
- Identify and re-prioritize opportunities in scalable and organized manner. Utilize real economic tools (SIR, net present value) that can support decision making by appropriate audiences. Maximize progress by segregating financial needs by available revenue streams. Re-use and refine project content by theme (ex: organization by system-based measures to support standard design and refinement)
- Developing a project scope and working to find the right solutions for implementation.
Energy Use Improvements
sustainability office dashboard
General University
The Sustainability & Energy group supports projects for the General University to ensure we are looking at the University utility contracts, bills, and savings from a big picture, University-wide perspective.
This includes the following initiatives:
Utility Procurement and Contract Management
- Report and make recommendations regarding the University’s utility costs/variances, procurement, rate structures.
Utility Bill Management and Cost Recovery
- Annual billing rate updates, including rate definition and summary of calculations.
Savings Projections and Verification
- Monitoring and reporting outcomes
- Ensure projects with energy debt have M&V/metering plans complete before project start
Electricity by Source
sustainability office dashboards
Bill Rates
click here
Community
The Sustainability & Energy group supports projects for our Community to ensure we are communicating progress, sharing lessons learned, and engaging stakeholders.
This includes the following initiatives:
Publication
- Promote awareness and share successes and lessons learned with the wider community.
Community Engagement
- Establish goals and plans for facility and utility impacts.
- Provide leadership and technical support in the analysis, development, and implementation of programs including energy efficiency, water efficiency, carbon reductions, air quality, other sustainable areas impacted by facility operations
- Staff advisor and mentor for student funded SCIF (Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund) projects
Programs and Initiatives
The University of Utah has exceeded its goal of reducing energy by 20% by 2020 as
part of the United States Department of Energy's "Better Buildings Challenge." Learn
more about how we continue to improve energy efficiency across campus, by visiting
the University's
Climate Action Plan website.
In support of Operational Excellence and the University’s Climate Action Plan Strategy 3.6 “Minimize the emissions associated with conducting research at the University”, the Sustainability & Energy Department is offering no-cost Green Lab Certification to reduce energy use and waste in labs on campus. This directly impacts greenhouse gas emissions, local air quality and utility costs. Not only will your lab be saving energy - you will be positively impacting the health of those around you.
The SEED2SOIL program will bring together experts and stakeholders along with operational sustainability topics to expand, prioritize, and refine known opportunities for carbon reduction.
Looking for information on Recycling and Waste Management?
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How Are We Doing?
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CONTACT US
Email: energy@fm.utah.edu
Address:V. Randall Turpin Bldg.1795 E South Campus Dr.Salt Lake City, UT 84112