vvEPA
OnCampus eccMmbassadors
OnCampus ecoAmbassadors are college
students who implement projects from EPA's
partnership programs to help carry out the
Agency's mission to protect human health and
the environment. The program is open to
ANY college student, regardless of program,
age, or background. All interested students
are encouraged to participate.
Did you know?
•	If the energy efficiency of the buildings
where we work, play, and learn improved by
just 10%, Americans would save about $20
billion and reduce greenhouse gases
equivalent to the emissions from about 30
million vehicles.
•	Energy efficiency improvements represent
the fastest, cheapest, and largest untapped
solution for reducing energy use, lowering
energy bills, and preventing greenhouse gas
emissions that contribute to the challenge
of climate change.
•	More than 225 colleges and universities
have joined ENERGY STAR as a partner and
are making significant strides in improving
energy management.
Learn More
ENERGY STAR® is a joint voluntary program of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) that promotes energy-efficient products
and practices to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. ENERGY STAR helps individuals,
schools, businesses, universities, and other
organizations save energy, save money, and
protect the environment by improving energy
performance. For more information, please
visit: www.energystar.gov
ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project
University buildings are major energy consumers. By understanding the
energy performance of various buildings, facility managers can set
improvement goals and prioritize investments in efficiency upgrades. You
can encourage better energy management on your campus by working
with facility managers and implementing an ENERGY STAR Benchmarking
Project to measure and track building energy performance.
Goals of the ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project
•	Improve the energy efficiency of your campus by measuring and
tracking the energy performance of one or more buildings
•	Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
•	Educate students about links between energy use and the environment
•	Lead your school to become an ENERGY STAR partner
If You're Interested In:
•	Planning fun events to get students interested in energy efficiency
•	Meeting new people
•	Designing creative messages
•	Empowering and motivating students to change their energy behavior
...then the ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project is for you!
See page 2 for a step-by-step checklist for
the ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project.
Students Taking Action
The University of Virginia (UVA) identifies buildings that have a high
energy use compared to other, similar buildings through benchmarking
building energy and water. Investigations are conducted on these
buildings to determine the causes of high use so that corrective action
can be taken. One example of successful benchmarking at UVA involved
the university's chemistry building. Its energy use increased
unexpectedly, making it one of the larger energy users per square foot on
campus. Because it was sub-metered and energy use was measured and
tracked, the university's facility managers were able to quickly identify the
increase and examine the building for its cause.
To make utility usage and metering data more compelling to building
occupants, UVA engineering students developed web pages to show
energy use and cost statistics per building. The web pages included real-
time data from meters and building automation systems.
The ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project is ideal for students pursuing
degrees in business, communications, education, environmental science,
engineering, and public policy.

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Checklist for the ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project
Resources
Follow the steps below to implement an ENERGY STAR Benchmarking Project.
Q 1. Find out what's being done on your campus.
Your efforts to measure buildings' energy use may be the first step toward creating a
campus-wide energy strategy or it may fit within existing energy program activities.
Talk with your school administrators, energy managers, and facilities team to learn
what's already being done and how your efforts might complement their ongoing
efforts.
Q 2. Encourage your university to install sub-meters on campus.
Ask your facility managers how the buildings on campus are metered. Follow the tips
on the right for talking with facility managers. Many campuses have master meters
that quantify the energy use for groups of buildings or for the entire campus. Sub-
metering individual buildings shows how much energy each campus building
consumes and results in more accurate benchmarking of energy use.
Although installing sub-meters may require an up-front investment, there are
associated savings with these meters and energy consumption can be managed
more effectively when the energy use profile of individual buildings is understood
and tracked.
Q 3. Benchmark your campus facilities in EPA's Portfolio Manager.
Regardless of how your campus is metered, you can use EPA's Portfolio Manager to
track your campus' energy consumption. To access the Portfolio Manager, visit
www.energystar.gov/benchmark. Benchmarking of building energy and water use
can identify buildings that use more energy and water per square foot in comparison
to similar buildings. This information allows facility managers to conduct
investigations to determine the causes of high use so that corrective action can be
taken on low-performing buildings.
In addition, you can use the Benchmarking Starter Kit to find out what information
you need to collect and other information to get started quickly. A link to the
Benchmarking Starter Kit is available at www.energystar.gov/benchmark.
Q 4. Apply for ENERGY STAR certification.
Certain building types are eligible to receive an ENERGY STAR energy performance
score, a weather-normalized comparison to the national average energy use for
similar building types. If any of your buildings receives an ENERGY STAR score of 75 or
higher in Portfolio Manager, the building may be eligible for the ENERGY STAR, EPA's
nationally recognized symbol for superior energy performance. For details, visit
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager_intro.
~ 6. Involve students in tracking your campus' energy use.
Building energy data provides a wealth of insight and learning opportunities for
students. Involve classes and student groups in all aspects of the energy
measurement and tracking processes, from entering data into Portfolio Manager to
analyzing your facilities' energy performance over time.
Q 7. Fill out your completion form.
Record the information that you are required to report to EPA on the event
completion form, including your name, date of the event, name of your college, a
description of the event or events, the number of interactions (include any interesting
comments), and additional comments.
Additional Online Guidance
EPA provides many no-cost, easy-to-use
training materials to help you get started on
the path to benchmarking your buildings'
energy use. Visit this site to explore EPA's live
Web training sessions, pre-recorded sessions,
and animated presentations on using
ENERGY STAR tools and resources.
www.energystar.gov/buildlngstralning
Access and learn more about Portfolio
Manager, EPA's no-cost online tool for
measuring and tracking energy use.
www.e n er gysta r .gov/be nch ma r k
Tips for Talking with Facility Managers
1.	Schedule a meeting in advance. Make
sure they know who you are, who you're
working with, and what you'd like to
know.
2.	Be on time, polite, and to the point, and
be sure to look nice!
3.	Do your research. Try to find out as
much as you can about your campus'
energy use before the meeting.
4.	Be open to suggestions, and look for
ways that facilities staff are already doing
what you hope to accomplish.
5.	Ask the right questions. Who manages
the campus' energy use? Are buildings
sub-metered? Do you already
benchmark our energy consumption?
6.	Agree on action items for both of you to
accomplish before meeting again.
7.	Follow up promptly with any further
information, thanking staff for their time.
EPA Contact Info
ENERGY STAR Hotline
(888) STAR-YES; (888) 782-7937
EPA OnCampusTeam
EPAOnCampus@epa.gov
EPA OnCampus Websites
Visit the EPA website at
www.epa.gov/ecoambassadors/oncampus
fJoin the conversation at
www.facebook.com/epaoncampus

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