State awards Syracuse University, three others funding for energy-efficiency projects

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University (SU) will use a 1.3 million New York State grant to conduct a retrofit project on an existing eight-unit, campus dormitory building.

The project will evaluate the impact of renewable-energy sources, high-efficiency systems, and occupant-centric, smart-building controls to increase energy savings, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Students will participate in energy modeling, simulation, and evaluation of building performance.

The effort seeks to leverage “creative, cost-effective” options to develop, analyze, and implement net-zero-energy performance.

SU is among four colleges that will use state funding to help pay for the projects under the “Energy to Lead” competition,” per Cuomo’s office.

The City College of New York Building Performance Lab, New York Medical College, and Vassar College will also use state funding for similar projects.

“Syracuse University is proud of the broad cross-disciplinary team applying expertise from Architecture, the iSchool, and Engineering to a real-world problem in sustainable energy. Not only will the project provide a proof of concept for a NetZero retrofit of an existing building but will also take into account human factors in the built environment,” John Liu, SU’s interim vice chancellor and provost, said. “Most importantly, it will provide a rich research environment for our students during the retrofit and after, as they track performance metrics and qualitative feedback on the project.”

About Energy to Lead

As part of the Energy to Lead competition, these campuses will advance clean-energy plans that will be “instrumental in achieving New York State’s goals to realize” a carbon-neutral building stock, inspire the next generation of climate leaders, and provide “robust opportunities for student engagement,” the state contends.

Combined, the projects are expected to save 4,604 metric tons of carbon annually, the equivalent to removing almost 4,000 cars from the road each year.

The projects provide educational, and professional opportunities for students and local communities.

Additionally, the projects will deliver local community benefits by helping reduce emissions in the area. Each awardee will share best practices by providing guidance documents to distribute on campus and at higher-education events for replication planning, funding, and implementation. This will help “maximize” quantifiable energy and greenhouse-gas reductions on their own campuses as well as other campuses around the state.