The intimate ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the University’s new Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) on Monday signified not only a huge step in Fairfield’s green movement, but also the University’s commitment to environmental sustainability in the greater global community.
The keynote speakers, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT) and University President Fr. Jeffrey von Arx, all applauded the University’s response to regulate energy use and overall efficiency.
“I couldn’t help but smile. I’ve been many places with President von Arx, but not here,” said Shays. “And I was looking around and saying, ‘This is really cool.’ And it is cool.”
“What we’re seeing is a university respond to a very real human need and a very real financial need, and you’re seeing government respond to help,” he said.
The implementation of the CHP will provide about 99 percent of the campus’s electricity and 70 percent of its heating capabilities through cogeneration.
Cogeneration is a process that utilizes fuel, or in this case, natural gas instead of coal, to be burned in a generator that then turns a turbine to create electricity and power. The excess heat produced is recycled and distributed throughout campus through a series of underground pipelines.
The CHP turbines can operate at higher revolutions-per-minute, allowing the system to develop more horsepower with a smaller physical size, or smaller footprint, than a regular piston engine which, in turn, requires less maintenance, according to Fairfield Energy Manager Bill Auger.
Because it is generating its own energy and taking itself off the power grid, the University’s CHP has the potential to save an energy equivalent used by 4,000 residential homes.
“The CHP is expected to reduce the University’s overall carbon footprint by more than 10,000 metric tons per year,” said von Arx at the ceremony.
Bodman commended the University for its ability to convert waste energy, or “America’s most abundant available source of new energy,” into a viable source of clean energy through technological advances.
Unlike individual automobiles that release heat into the atmosphere and lose a great amount of energy from fuel, Auger explained how the CHP can recover this lost heat. The University’s CHP has an energy efficiency rate of 60-63 percent, versus that of a normal engine at 30-33 percent
“The CHP will recover a great amount of its residual exhaust heat by exhausting through a waste heat recovery boiler and then into the University underground high temperature hot water system to be used for heating and cooling a number of the campus high-energy buildings,” said Auger.
Bodman said application of the latest technology can only further aid in solving problems involving increased energy needs.
“Indeed, in an era of record energy crisis and increasing energy demand, it is incumbent upon all of us to think about how we do use energy,” said Bodman.
The speakers also discussed the collaboration among several institutions in funding the $9.5 million energy-saving plant.
“Through its landmark Energy Independence Act, the state of Connecticut was able to help fund this project with cooperate effort between government and private sector that will allow America to have a brighter and more secure energy future,” said Bodman.
In September 2006, the state of Connecticut granted the University $2.3 million toward construction of the CHP under the Energy Independence Act signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R), according to a University press release.
Von Arx also expressed his gratitude toward United Technologies Carrier for its financial partnership with the University during the plant project and “the cooperation of the United Illuminating Company.”
Fairfield now joins a number of universities across the country, including Bucknell and Rutgers, who are undertaking initiatives to move off the power grid. UConn and Yale have similar systems, but of older models.
Bodman cited Fairfield’s plant as an “exciting application of an energy efficiency technology that the Department [of Energy] has long supported.”
“In my view, this is a shining example of America’s technology-driven, energy-efficient future,” said Bodman.
At present, the CHP is only running on a partial power capacity for testing and troubleshooting initiatives, but should be “full load (4.5 mw) later this week and full load or full heat recovery by November,” to according to Auger.
Auger suggests that Fairfield will notice a reduction in utility expenses by November, if it is powered at full capacity and operates according to schedule.
Members of the Fairfield community can see the impact of enacting this energy-saving technology beyond its ability to save money.
“The dedication of the COGEN facility on the Fairfield University campus demonstrates that the green movement on campus has moved beyond an infancy stage,” said Jim Fitzpatrick, associate vice president of student services. “It has become more than words – we’re now a movement!”
But Bodman said that the government and the nation have a “lot more to do” beyond one-time actions and views Fairfield as setting a precedent.
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