The state of Louisiana has received about $75 million in the form of an Energy Reduction Grant, with $25 million being set aside for higher education.
Executive Director of the Office of Facility and Utility Operations Bobby Pitre said he worked with the University to initiate the process and gave the state a list of projects they thought the money could be used for.
Pitre said the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources applied for the grant in March 2009, and the state has secured the money.
The University will soon be awarded the money from the state.
Pitre said Facility Services is planning to complete eight projects around campus that will improve the University’s energy efficiency and save money.
The most expensive project — which costs about $1 million — will have to do with insulation on pipes that have failed or fallen apart in the utility tunnels that run underground across campus, Pitre said.
“We’ll have to redo about 6,000 feet of heating and chilling lines in the tunnels,” Pitre said. “Right now we’re wasting a lot of heat.”
Pitre said the revamped insulation will save the University about $400,000 to $450,000 per year and will produce 3,300 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
A second project will also be done on the tunnels to repair the steam traps underground.
Pitre said as steam travels through the tunnels, some condenses and is caught by a steam trap. The broken steam traps allow steam to escape, which costs the University money.
That project will cost about $360,000 to complete and will save the University about $250,000 to $300,000 per year.
Several types of lighting around campus will also be replaced.
Pitre said older, inefficient light bulbs in classrooms will be replaced with T8 fluorescent bulbs that use less electricity.
“Of course, we replace light bulbs with these when they burn out, but this will allow us to do hundreds at one time,” Pitre said.
About half of the exterior lights on campus will also be replaced with LED or induction fluorescent bulbs lit by radio waves. Pitre said the current bulbs typically last about three years, and the new ones will last up to 12 years, saving energy and maintenance costs.
Pitre said the exterior lighting will cost about $860,000 to replace and will save the University about $60,000 per year.
Interior will cost about $490,000 to replace and will save about $120,000 per year, he said.
Five buildings on campus — the Energy, Coast and Environment building, the Cox Auditorium, Patrick F. Taylor Hall, Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex and the Life Sciences Annex — will also be evaluated to determine how energy can best be used.
Pitre said buildings that were constructed years ago are now used for different purposes and are inadequately heated and cooled.
It will cost about $800,000 to redo the heating and cooling in those buildings and will save the University about $150,000 per year.
Moriah Graham, international studies freshman, said the projects on campus are a good idea.
“Campus is so big, [and] little things can really make a big difference,” Graham said.
Pitre said he doesn’t expect the projects to cause any significant problems for students walking around campus except the re-insulation of some of the pipesthat run underground beneath parking lots.
He said Facility Services will work with the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation to minimize any inconvenience to students.
Pitre said he is unsure of when the University will begin the projects but is confident they will meet the completion deadline of April 2012.
 
 
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]