Initiated in the Autumn of 2011, the Energy Efficiency Audit project is a collaboration between the Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) at Northwestern University (NU), the City of Evanston, and Citizens' Greener Evanston (CGE). Volunteer engineering students at NU, with support from the City's Sustainability Coordinator and CGE's Energy Efficiency in Building's Task Force, will engage in a series of on-going energy efficiency audits of the City's municipal buildings. The project aims to assess and improve the operational energy of municipal buildings, while providing practical, hands-on experience for emerging engineers, creating a win-win opportunity for an holistic approach to increased, long-term sustainability, and heightened knowledge and understanding of building energy consumption.
The Energy Efficiency Audit is a three-part assessment of a building's energy performance and will cover the following steps:
1) Evaluate the current energy performance of the chosen building, identify energy conservation measures appropriate to that building, and gauge cost implications of the recommended measures.
2) Plan a strategy with the City's Facilities Management Department to implement the chosen energy conservation measures as part of their improved standard operations and maintenance procedures.
3) Conduct a Building Performance Evaluation twelve months after the implementation of the energy conservation measures to evaluate the impact of the project on the energy consumption of the retrofitted building.
Leading on from the anticipated success of the initial Energy Efficiency Audit, which will be evaluated after the preliminary two steps are completed, the Team of ESW, NU, the City of Evanston, and CGE, will look to expand the project to encompass a greater commitment from NU students, potentially incorporating itself into an assessed course project.
The Energy Efficiency Audit is a three-part assessment of a building's energy performance and will cover the following steps:
1) Evaluate the current energy performance of the chosen building, identify energy conservation measures appropriate to that building, and gauge cost implications of the recommended measures.
2) Plan a strategy with the City's Facilities Management Department to implement the chosen energy conservation measures as part of their improved standard operations and maintenance procedures.
3) Conduct a Building Performance Evaluation twelve months after the implementation of the energy conservation measures to evaluate the impact of the project on the energy consumption of the retrofitted building.
Leading on from the anticipated success of the initial Energy Efficiency Audit, which will be evaluated after the preliminary two steps are completed, the Team of ESW, NU, the City of Evanston, and CGE, will look to expand the project to encompass a greater commitment from NU students, potentially incorporating itself into an assessed course project.
