With Con Edison’s “Green Team” Columbia Saves $700,000 Annually

Con Edison’s Green Team has helped one of the world’s leading universities save more than $700,000 a year in energy costs through upgrades to the school’s water-chilling system.

Columbia University received $469,000 in incentives through Con Edison’s Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Program to offset part of the project’s $2.25 million cost.

“This is a great example of how our energy-efficiency programs can help customers make smart investments to reduce their consumption, save money and improve the environmental performance of their buildings,” said Rebecca Craft, Con Edison’s director of Energy Efficiency. “We encourage other customers to follow the lead of this great New York City institution and check out our programs.”

“This project helps us provide efficient and reliable service to our students, faculty and staff,” said Frank Martino, vice president of Operations at Columbia. “Having a sophisticated, real-time monitoring system allows us to track consumption and performance metrics and make adjustments when necessary.”

The upgrade will reduce electricity usage at Columbia’s storied campus in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood by 3.5 million kilowatt hours a year. The school will recoup its investment in just over two years.

The project, a key part of Columbia’s ambitious campaign to reduce its energy consumption, consisted of installing a comprehensive network of controls, metering, hardware, programming software, and other upgrades to the school’s chilled water system.

Columbia selected Johnson Controls and Optimum Energy to install the new equipment. The new metering equipment and programming software allow the University to closely measure and control energy use within the chiller plant.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $42 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York.

Con Edison’s Commercial & Industrial Program lets eligible customers receive financial incentives to upgrade heating and cooling systems and save up to 50 percent on energy surveys. Customers can also get incentives to use less energy when demand is high. For more information, go to http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/ci.asp.

 

The Con Edison Green Team has an energy-efficiency program for everyone. To find out which program is right for you, visit www.conEd.com/greenteam or call 1-877-870-6118.

For additional information, visit conEd.com, our green site, conEd.com/thepowerofgreen, or Facebook at Power of Green.