Facilities > Departments > Utilities & Energy > Energy Management > Projects > Building Programming

Building Programming

In an effort to reduce our energy consumption, Auburn University buildings' mechanical and electrical systems are being programmed to help reduce usage. Currently, there are two main areas of concern: HVAC and Lighting.

HVAC:

Buildings will be scheduled for an occupied or unoccupied mode where possible. During the unoccupied mode, temperature adjustments will be made to save energy. During unoccupied times, the building temperature will be allowed to drift 10 degrees below the occupied set point on the thermostat in the winter and 8 degrees above the thermostat set point in the summer. Schedules will be made in coordination with the building owners to ensure maximum savings and to accommodate special needs.

When buildings are programmed, the temperature adjustment range is between 68 and 75 degrees. This helps to control wasted energy. Our four pipe buildings use chilled water and hot water year round to control the thermostat set point.

If someone enters the building during an unoccupied time, they may press the white button on the thermostat. This button is located on the outside of the thermostat in the bottom right hand corner. This button will put their individual zone into a temporary occupied mode for one hour. After an hour, the zone will return to unoccupied mode.

HVAC Override Button

When buildings are put into unoccupied mode in order to reduce the amount of energy used in our HVAC systems, there is a button on the thermostat which can be used to put a zone back into a temporary occupied mode. The button is located on the bottom right of the thermostats. Pushing the button will return the zone (the area controlled by that particular thermostat) back to a temporary occupied mode. For the TMZ thermostats, the button just needs to be pressed once in a normal fashion. A LED light (right above the override button) will turn on, indicating that the zone is in temporary occupied mode. The digital display should also read “Tmp Occ.” For the slider thermostats, the button needs to be pressed and held down for 2 seconds and then released. The time of the temporary occupied mode is generally 1 hour. Occupied mode means that the area attempts to control to within 0.5 degrees of the set point on the thermostat. Unoccupied modes control to within 8 degrees of set point when cooling is required and 10 degrees of set point when heating is required.

Below are pictures of different thermostats and their particular override buttons:

Lighting:

Some of the new buildings on campus have lighting control panels that will allow general use lights to be scheduled. These areas are generally hallways or areas that are large and of common use (i.e. lights in the Chiller Room of the District Energy Plant). This choice of lighting control can be very useful in areas where installing occupancy sensors is not ideal.

Buildings with Implemented Schedules:

• HVAC - Facilities Building 2 , ALFA Ag Services and Research Building , Thach Hall , Sciences Center Classrooms , Sciences Center Auditorium , Sciences Center Laboratories , Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Building, Parker Hall and Miller Gorrie Center.

• Lighting - Sciences Center Classrooms , Sciences Center Auditorium , Sciences Center Laboratories , Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Building , District Energy Plant , State Diagnostic Lab Building , and Miller Gorrie Center (lighting controls are localized to the building)