Office of Energy & Sustainability

Energy Projects

LED Lighting Campus Upgrade Projects (2016 - Present)

 

DEP Water Challenge (2018-20)

Facility Management & Campus Operations (FMCO) participated in the DEP Water Challenge from 2018 to 2020. The team successfully achieved the goal of reducing water consumption in the Upper East Side campus by over 5 % and was recognized with a Gold Certificate.

In August 2018, the Department of Environmental Protection launched a voluntary Water Challenge for NYC universities to reduce campus water consumption by at least five percent. The collaborative effort was part of DEP’s Water Demand Management Program to reduce New York City water demand by 10 million gallons per day between 2018 and 2022. Over the course of two years, Weill Cornell Medicine, along with five other participating universities, monitored campus water usage and participated in quarterly water conservation workshops. Partners at DEP assisted with data tracking and connected participants with industry experts and water conservation technical resources. At the end of two years, Weill Cornell Medicine achieved approximately 12% in water reduction corresponding to 19,258,000 gallons in a year, and was elected winner.

The two projects that were tackled as part of the challenge were the installation of autoclave timers in the Belfer Research Building and the installation of low flow toilets in the Lasdon House.

BRB Water Conservation - Autoclave Timers (2018-19)

The project aims to reduce water and steam usage during inactive periods between autoclave cycles. With 24 autoclaves, the Belfer Research Building has the highest water consumption on campus. Autoclaves are a piece of equipment that uses steam under pressure to kill microorganisms. District steam is guided through the steam jacket surrounding the pressure chamber. From here, it enters the sealed chamber, where the items to sterilize are placed, and starts displacing the air while increasing chamber temperature and pressure. The steam jacket allows it to reach the sterilization temperature faster. Once the sterilization cycle is completed, the pressure is released, and the jacket is flooded with chilled water to cool and condense the steam. An electronic sensor maintains 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60°C) of the discharged water to the drain.

This process consumes approximately 1.5 gallons of water per minute during inactive periods and 10 lbs of steam per hour, which corresponds to 18,250,000 gallons of water and 2,100,000 lbs of steam per year in the entire building.

Using the timers to automatically turn off the machines for 12 hours a day reduced the inactive periods and cut water usage in half. Underutilized autoclaves were identified and shut off. Consolidating autoclave use helped increase water and steam savings.

Lasdon House low-flow toilets (2019-19)

 Toilets in the Lasdon House student residence were consuming 3.5 gallons of water per flush. As part of the water conservation project, all toilets in the student apartments were replaced with models that consume 1.28 gallons of water per flush. In collaboration with the Housing Department, 170 toilets were replaced, saving 3,819 gallons of water daily and 1,393,935 gallons annually.

Energy Efficiency Learning Lab and Excellence in Action Award (2020)

 In Fall 2019, the Facilities Management & Campus Operations Department (FMCO) received the inaugural Excellence in Action Award from the Urban Green Council for creating a Learning Lab focused on energy efficiency training.

The Weill Cornell Medicine’s Facilities Management & Campus Operations team is responsible for forty buildings spread across the city (most of which are located on the Upper East Side). These buildings have different energy use and needs. Research and patient care spaces are especially highly energy intensive due to process loads, high ventilation rates, and special pressurization. Due to this complexity, mechanics, and electricians must be trained in various equipment and energy conservation techniques. To faciliate the training, FMCO enrolled in the GPRO@Work™ program offered by the Urban Green Council and funded by the NYSERDA’s Building Operations and Maintenance Workforce Development and Training program.

Led by Angela Mu, Associate Director of Energy & Sustainability, and Michael Murphy, Senior Director of Facilities Management & Campus Operations, the Learning Lab project was designed to help the department meet its energy efficiency goals and to boost employee skills and retention through training, skill-building, and efficiency in daily operations. The result of this project was a space for FMCO staff to practice maintenance techniques on equipment, develop trainings, and deepen the culture of energy conservation and sustainability. The space was created by WCM mechanics and electricians who reused campus equipment as much as possible. The Learning Lab includes customized versions of two building management systems that connect to sample HVAC equipment, a fume hood like those found in WCM’s laboratories, and examples of daylighting and occupancy sensors, all to approximate real-life conditions.

The training framework developed as part of the program included topics such as communicating temperature standards with occupants, introductions to building management systems, tools use and maintenance, and troubleshooting HVAC systems.

Thanks to the GPRO@Work™ program and the created Learning Lab, the FMCO team achieved:

  • 28 trainings attended
  • 709 hours spent actively in training
  • 11 new GPRO O&M certificate holders, in addition to 13 who were trained previously
  • Staff participation increased by 90-95% annually, from approximately 50% in previous years
  • 10% reduction in annual water consumption
  • 5% reduction in annual electricity consumption
  • 8% reduction in annual natural gas consumption in one building

S/SI Airflow Optimization (2020-2021)

 

BRB & WGC Chiller Plant Optimization (2022)

Local Laws 87 and 97 have established New York City as one of the nation's most stringent for carbon emissions from buildings. WCM wet and dry labs possess higher energy use intensity compared to other commercial structures. The Chiller Optimization Project aims to help WCM meet Local Law 97 compliance.

In 2022, the Office of Energy & Sustainability collaborated with Smith Engineering to optimize chiller plant operations at the Belfer Research Building and Weill Greenberg Center. This initiative involved optimizing the operational sequences for pumps, cooling towers, valves, and centrifugal chillers. The outcome was a notable:

 

  • Annual energy savings of 700,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy.
  • Reduction of 1,300 thousand pounds of steam consumption in the chiller plant.
  • These improvements translate to an annual decrease of 270 tons in carbon emissions.
  • The reliability of our chiller plant has been bolstered, ensuring a consistently high level of service to building occupants throughout the year.

BRB 8th Floor Aircuity Demand Controlled Ventilation (2023)

 

BRB / WGC / Lasdon House Decarbonization Roadmap (Ongoing)

 Weill Cornell Medicine is aiming to achieve compliance with New York City’s Local Laws 87 and 97.

  • Local Law 87 requires buildings over 50,000 square feet to submit an Energy Efficiency Report, which consists of an extensive Energy Audit and a Retro-commissioning report, every 10 years.
  • Local Law 97 states buildings over 25,000 square feet are required to meet energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits as of 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. The goal is to achieve net zero emissions from buildings by 2050. 

 

With this goal in mind, the Office of Energy & Sustainability has contracted Wendel, an architecture, engineering, energy efficiency, and construction management firm. With its help, WCM will produce an extensive Energy Audit and Retro-commissioning report on HVAC, lighting, water, and controls systems located within Belfer Research Building, Weil Greenberg Center, and Lasdon House. This report includes extensive lighting and equipment surveys, equipment operational testing, and building energy use analysis. A comprehensive list of energy conservation measures will then be developed for implementation with the goal of energy reduction. As part of this project, an actionable, targeted heat pump and electrification assessment and road map will be created, as well as a long-term technical strategy for fully electrifying these three buildings.  

Demand Response Programs (ongoing during summer time)

For the past six years, Weill Cornell Medicine has participated in summertime Demand Response (DR) programs, which play an important role in maintaining the operation and resiliency of the New York City electric grid. DR programs are collective actions involving suppliers and customers that can help reduce the likelihood of grid outages, defer the construction of new power plants, and avoid turning on the least-efficient power generators during peak periods (dirty ‘peaker’ plants).  Electric utility suppliers encourage their utility customers to reduce non-essential electricity usage during periods of grid strain.   

While enrolled in a DR program, WCM implements an energy curtailment plan to ensure there is enough electricity to power the needs of our community.  Belfer Research Building enrolled in a DR program during the summer of 2023, and Weill Greenberg Center and 1300 York Avenue have participated in DR events in prior years. DR events occur during weekdays for 2 to 6 hours and are initiated by either Con Edison or the New York Independent System Operator (the organization responsible for managing New York State’s electric grid). When notified, the Facilities Management & Campus Operations team will curtail electric load through actions such as turning on the emergency power generator, dimming non-essential lights in spaces such as corridors or machine rooms, pre-cooling spaces in advance to reduce cooling needs during the event, and turning off non-essential loads such as the BRB terrace fountain. Any proceeds from Demand Response enrollment are invested back in energy efficiency upgrades to further the campus’s sustainability goals and reduce future electric load.

During summer 2022, there were 10 DR events, and WCM reduced load by 410 kW, roughly equivalent to offsetting the electric load of five hundred 10,000-BTU ENERGY STAR-certified room air conditioners!

Did you know

Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, enough energy to power a house for 6 months.

Office of Energy & Sustainability 1300 York Avenue, LC006, Box 14, New York, NY 10065