TDF, energy conservation yield state honors for MU

MU doubles its pleasure, doubles its fun with two 1998 Governor's Awards

by Jon Stemmle

ampus Facilities' Energy Management is already having a banner year — and it's only August.

The state last month recognized MU's energy conservation efforts with two awards: the Governor's Award for Quality and Productivity, and the Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention. EM was one of nine teams honored with the Governor's Award for Quality and Productivity and was the Region I winner of the Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention.

"Our programs are very comprehensive,'' said Paul Hoemann, director of Energy Management. "There aren't very many facilities that are as innovative as ours when it comes to energy conservation."

Campus Facilities Director Alan Warden, Hoemann, and Ken Davis, manager of power plant engineering and utility distribution, on July 29 accepted the awards from Governor Mel Carnahan at the capitol in Jefferson City.

THE BIG DAY: CF Director Alan Warden holds a 1998 Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention, flanked by (l) EM Director Paul Hoemann and (r) Governor Mel Carnahan. Standing (l to r): Stephen Mahfood, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources; Paul Coleman, EM manager of energy controls and chilled water; Hoemann; Warden; Carnahan; Gregg Coffin, EM power plant superintendent; and Ken Davis, EM power plant engineering & utility distribution. Not pictured: Curtis Flatt, EM electric distribution manager, and Sharon Stock, EM senior staff engineer.

"I am delighted to recognize the hard work and achievements of these seven award winners," Carnahan said during the pollution prevention awards ceremony. "Their efforts to prevent pollution have improved the quality of life for all Missourians."

Waste-Tire-to-Energy Program

Three years and more than 500,000 waste tires ago, Campus Facilities initiated and joined forces with the Department of Corrections and the Department of Natural Resources to create the Waste-Tire-to-Energy Program. This program is an environmentally friendly, economical method for both cleaning up illegal waste-tire dumps throughout Missouri and reducing energy costs in MU's power plant.

"This has been a great cooperative effort between three state agencies,'' Hoemann said. "I attribute these honors to our excellent staff who put forth a great effort to make this possible."

Through EM's tire-derived-fuel (TDF) program, more than 500,000 waste tirehave already been recycled, saving Missourians $60,000 in tire-disposal costs. The program is also reducing pollutants going into Missouri's air by 250 tons per year and has reduced MU's annual fuel costs by $100,000.

A history of pollution prevention

The two Governor's Awards culminate five years of energy conservation efforts by energy management, which began in 1994 when MU joined the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Lights Partnership program. This program — energy-efficiency lighting upgrades — was followed the next year with MU's commitment to efficiency upgrading of heating and cooling systems in campus buildings. MU was recognized nationally for its work in both programs (see related story "Energy conservation nothing new at MU's power plant").

Through these programs, MU has drastically cut energy consumption — exemplified in the energy-efficiency upgrading of University Hall whose energy bill dropped by 60 percent — and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The fruits of labor

Between the EPA programs, TDF, thermal pipe insulation and steam line replacements, and electric distribution transformer-loss reduction, EM has transformed energy use on campus. Source emissions have been reduced by more than 16,700 tons per year, the equivalent of removing 3,300 cars from the state's highways or planting 4,500 acres of trees to offset pollution.

Where do we go from here?

EM's future efforts involve continuing to employ the newest energy conservation technology and techniques and refining current conservation methods for further pollution reductions and fiscal savings.