{"id":36854,"date":"2018-02-09T14:39:55","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T19:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=36854"},"modified":"2018-03-13T12:05:30","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T16:05:30","slug":"microgrid-to-boost-savings-energy-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/microgrid-to-boost-savings-energy-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"New microgrid to boost electric utility cost savings and energy resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With a new microgrid for campus, Eastern Mennonite University is increasing its energy resilience and enhancing its sustainability culture.<\/p>\n<p>The microgrid, set to come online during week of March 12-16, will use three new 500-kilowatt natural gas-fired generators to strengthen EMU\u2019s ability to respond during periods of significant demand on the local grid. It will be able to power the university independently when necessary, such as in times of local grid outages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis aligns with the university\u2019s commitment to be an energy-efficient, sustainable campus,\u201d said Ed Lehman, director of facilities management, \u201cand will result in electric utility cost savings for EMU.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/04\/100-years-commitment-sustainability-creation-care-farm-grown-food-leed-buildings\/\">Travel through 100 years of campus sustainability efforts.<\/a><\/aside>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/sustainability\/\">Read more about sustainability and creation care at EMU.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.whsv.com\/content\/news\/EMU-one-step-closer-to-energy-efficiency-476601833.html\">Watch WHVS coverage.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Universities are showing a growing interest in microgrids, said Microgrid Institute founder and director Michael Burr in a <a href=\"https:\/\/info.higheredfacilitiesforum.com\/blog\/the-rise-of-university-microgrids\"><em>Higher Ed Facilities Forum<\/em> article<\/a>. Microgrids not only \u201cmeet their needs but also showcase their commitment to innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the article, EMU&#8217;s microgrid was featured as a model among universities such as UC San Diego, MIT, Montclair, Princeton and Santa Clara University that are generating their own power needs.<\/p>\n<p>The facility is projected to save the university almost seven dollars per kilowatt of monthly distribution demand fees.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_36855\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36855\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/02\/microgrid-to-boost-savings-energy-resilience\/20180125-ed-lehman-microgrid-002-1000px\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36855\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-36855\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/20180125-Ed-Lehman-Microgrid-002-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/20180125-Ed-Lehman-Microgrid-002-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/20180125-Ed-Lehman-Microgrid-002-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/02\/20180125-Ed-Lehman-Microgrid-002-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-36855\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ed Lehman, director of facilities management at Eastern Mennonite University, with microgrid plans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re taking a load off of Harrisonburg Electric Commission, when they need it, thereby saving them money,\u201d said Lehman. \u201cIn turn, they are allowing us to pay a lower distribution demand fee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The microgrid was a facility improvement measure stemming from a performance contract with Siemens Building Technologies, which studied EMU\u2019s energy use and made recommendations for improvements. EMU will pay off the improvement measures, including the microgrid generators, over the next 15 years with the savings resulting from improved efficiency and reduced energy and water consumption.<\/p>\n<p>The generators will be integrated into the existing campus building automation system, which already helps manage times of peak electrical demand.<\/p>\n<p>Other steps taken by EMU over the years to improve energy efficiency on campus have included heating system and lighting upgrades, the construction of <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2011\/09\/leed-certified-dorm-sets-college-precedent\/\">three LEED Gold-certified buildings<\/a> and installing 328 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Hartzler Library. At the time of its installation in 2010, the 104-kilowatt system was the largest in Virginia, and most years <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2012\/09\/sun-shines-on-emu-solar-panels\/\">it has performed slightly above initial predictions<\/a>, said Lehman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a new microgrid for campus, Eastern Mennonite University is increasing its energy resilience and enhancing its sustainability culture. The microgrid, set to come online during week of March 12-16, <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/microgrid-to-boost-savings-energy-resilience\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about New microgrid to boost electric utility cost savings and energy resilience<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17596,17562,5643],"tags":[15112],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-36854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cscs","category-digest","category-environmental-sustainability","tag-ed-lehman","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New microgrid to boost electric utility cost savings and energy resilience - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/microgrid-to-boost-savings-energy-resilience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New microgrid to boost electric utility cost savings and energy resilience - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With a new microgrid for campus, Eastern Mennonite University is increasing its energy resilience and enhancing its sustainability culture. 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