STEPS BEING TAKEN TO CUT RISING UTILITY COSTS

Utility costs in recent years have been skyrocketing, increasing by more than 12 percent per year. According to Dick Walter, director of Facilities Management, these increases are faster than almost any other University cost.

A review of recent years' records show that utility cost has risen from $10.6 million, or an average cost of $1.60 per square foot in 1996-97, to an estimated $15.5 million, or an average cost of $2.24 per square foot, in the current 2001-02 fiscal year.

The current year's cost is a 12.4 percent above last year and, Walter said, the cost of utilities in the past five years has increased approximately 50 percent or $5 million more per year than in 1996. In the same period, the amount of space the University owns has only increased by about 2 percent. This money must be taken from other places and, in some instances, has led to many maintenance projects being deferred, he said.

Utility consumption and associated costs during the last five years show that, while conservation efforts have reduced UD's water consumption by nearly 16 percent, costs for that utility have risen 14.5 percent, Walter said. Fuel usage has increased 3.1 percent, but the cost has risen 58 percent. Serious conservation efforts have held the increase in electricity use to only 13.6 percent, but costs are still 40.5 percent higher than five years ago.

According to Walter, one project that has helped reduce energy consumption and made maximum use of natural resources is the creative use of underground water that is not suited for consumption and this has benefited both the University and the city of Newark.

UD's central utility plant, Walter explained, uses more than 32 million gallons of water each year as part of its heating and air conditioning systems. During the drought of 1999, the idea surfaced to tap into the north well field that runs along Academy Street, from near the Amtrak tracks up to approximately Alison Hall. The water in this well field is not appropriate for use as potable water, but it is fine for use in the boiler and cooling tower.

Negotiations with city of Newark officials, who have the rights to the water in that well field, resulted in an agreement to proceed with the plan, and in May 2001, water was being pumped to supply water for boiler and cooling tower use. An estimated 25 million gallons of water will be pumped every year.

"Not only does this save the University considerable money each year," Walter said, "but it preserves potable water for other purposes. The majority of the water is used during the summer months when the area is susceptible to droughts."

Other conservation initiatives have been implemented as well:

• Lights are being continually changed to more efficient equipment.
  
  
• The last two old, inefficient chillers on campus are in the process of being changed to modern, more efficient equipment.
  
  
• Temperatures in rooms and buildings are being modified. Air conditioning temperature settings were raised last summer and, this winter, facilities are cooler than they have been in past years, with thermostats set at 68 degrees.

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