Improve an academic building’s energy efficiency by first finding where and when it uses energy, then correcting operational faults before committing to major equipment replacements. Benchmark buildings, audit and commission existing systems, match schedules and ventilation to each space’s use, and verify results against a baseline. This sequence helps facilities teams direct limited capital toward improvements that fit the building without compromising comfort, indoor-air needs, or laboratory safety.
Start with building data, not a list of upgrades
A campus building’s energy use reflects more than its equipment. Classrooms, offices, libraries, laboratories, and support spaces can have different occupancy patterns, operating hours, ventilation requirements, and control needs. A measure that works well in one space may be unsuitable in another. The first task is therefore to establish how the building currently operates and where energy use appears out of line with its purpose.
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Build a usable baseline
Collect utility bills and any available submeter data, along with floor area, operating schedules, major system types and ages, and known comfort or maintenance problems. Keep the records tied to the specific buildings and time periods they describe. If occupancy or operating hours have changed, document that context rather than treating an energy-use change as proof of improved efficiency.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsUse the information to compare buildings and identify outliers that merit closer attention. A comparison is a way to prioritize investigation, not a diagnosis: buildings with different schedules, uses, or ventilation requirements should not be assumed to have the same energy-saving potential. Where submeters or system-level data are unavailable, utility records and a building profile still provide a starting point for an audit.
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A useful profile links energy use to the building’s size, systems, operating calendar, and known issues. It should help the team ask more precise questions: Is a building operating beyond its scheduled hours? Are occupants reporting recurring comfort complaints? Are mechanical systems near the end of their service life, or are they simply not responding to controls as intended? The profile is not a substitute for an audit, but it helps focus the audit on conditions that matter and provides context for interpreting later results.
Prioritize buildings with clear opportunities
Michigan State University’s Anthony Hall process began with a building profile and then used an energy audit to identify mechanical systems that needed correction, replacement, or additions, according to a 2015 U.S. Department of Energy case study. The practical lesson is to use building-level information to choose where to investigate before allocating capital across a campus.
The University of Virginia’s Building Efficiency Program describes energy engineers engaging occupants and auditing buildings to identify useful conservation measures. That combination matters: operators can explain system history and recurring faults, while occupants can identify spaces that are uncomfortable or used differently from the schedule on paper.
When several buildings compete for limited funding, prioritize investigation using the evidence available rather than assuming the largest building is automatically the best first project. Compare building profiles, known operational problems, and the potential scope of work. Then use the audit to clarify whether the opportunity is mainly operational, requires repairs, or calls for a larger retrofit. The process makes capital planning more deliberate without treating one building’s outcome as a forecast for another.
Audit and commission existing systems before specifying replacements
An energy audit investigates where energy is being used and which improvements may be worthwhile. Existing-building commissioning focuses on whether building systems and controls operate as intended, and on finding and correcting problems in that operation. The work can reveal that a system needs tuning or repair rather than wholesale replacement. It can also help identify where a larger retrofit should be designed.
The two activities answer related but distinct questions. An audit helps identify energy-saving opportunities and potential project scope; commissioning examines the operation of existing systems, including whether controls and equipment behave as intended. Findings from one can inform the other. For example, an audit may flag an HVAC system for closer evaluation, while functional testing can help the team determine whether the issue is a faulty sequence, a calibration problem, an imbalance, or a limitation that requires capital work.
Inspect controls and test actual operation
Document the installed controls and system configuration before changing them. Check schedules, setpoints, sensor readings, sequences of operation, and whether equipment responds as intended. Review how air and water flows are balanced, and inspect known trouble areas such as leaking valves or dampers, poorly performing coils, and equipment that does not follow its intended schedule. Functional testing helps distinguish a control problem from a hardware limitation.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2015 Campbell Hall case describes retro-commissioning, improved control logic and functional tests, demand-control ventilation, ventilation optimization, and conversion of constant-volume systems to single-zone variable-air-volume systems where applicable. These are examples to assess against a building’s actual systems and needs, not a universal retrofit prescription.
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Michigan State University’s Erickson Hall case also describes documenting system history, testing major HVAC controls, rebalancing flows, and applying low- or no-cost adjustments. A facilities team can use the same broad sequence—understand the system, test it, correct faults, and then reassess what remains—but the specific measures depend on the building.
Commissioning findings should be specific enough to act on. A note that a room is “too hot” is a useful starting point, but the team also needs to know when the problem occurs, whether controls show the correct temperature, and how the system responds. Documenting the observed condition and test result helps avoid replacing equipment before determining whether a setting, sensor, control sequence, or flow issue is contributing to the problem.
Separate operational faults from capital needs
Record each finding with the affected system or space, the evidence observed, the corrective action, and how the team will confirm that the fix worked. A schedule correction or sensor calibration may address an operational fault. A failed component, incompatible control, or system that cannot meet its intended function may require repair or capital work. Keeping those categories distinct makes it easier to prioritize spending and explain why a proposed replacement is necessary.
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After the audit and functional checks, address verified problems that cause equipment to run unnecessarily or perform poorly. That may include schedules that do not reflect occupancy, faulty controls, uncalibrated sensors, leaking valves or dampers, or coils that need attention. Michigan State University’s case material describes corrections and maintenance alongside larger conservation measures, reinforcing that operational work and capital projects can be part of the same plan.
Make changes in a controlled way. Document the existing sequence and settings, change the relevant operation, and check the result under the conditions the space is meant to serve. If a classroom is used for evening events, for example, a schedule based only on its usual daytime timetable may not reflect actual occupancy. Confirm the space’s real use with the people who operate or occupy it before shortening operating hours.
For each change, check that it does not undermine the room’s purpose. Confirm occupant comfort and applicable indoor-air requirements, and verify the intended function of spaces that have specialized ventilation or environmental needs. A lower energy reading is not a successful outcome if it comes from failing to serve the space properly.
Give maintenance findings an owner and a follow-up check. If a team identifies a leaking valve, a poorly performing coil, or a sensor that does not appear calibrated, track the correction and confirm the affected equipment behaves as expected afterward. This avoids treating a work order as proof of an energy improvement: the team still needs to verify that the correction addressed the operating problem and did not create a comfort or service issue elsewhere.
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HVAC improvements should follow the building’s room-by-room use and ventilation needs, not just a campus-wide target. Offices, classrooms, research laboratories, collections, and support rooms can have different requirements. Before changing airflow, operating schedules, or control logic, identify which requirements apply to each area and who is responsible for confirming them.
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Use airflow changes selectively
Campbell Hall’s project included demand-control ventilation and ventilation optimization. Those approaches may be worth evaluating where the existing system, occupancy patterns, and ventilation requirements support them. They should be designed and tested for the actual building rather than copied simply because a named project used them.
The Clark Hall case illustrates why space distinctions matter. Its reported airflow reductions applied to office and support spaces; actual research laboratories were excluded from those reductions. Facilities teams should therefore identify laboratory boundaries and requirements explicitly before considering airflow changes. Coordinate facilities staff with occupants, laboratory safety personnel, design professionals, and procurement when work affects laboratory ventilation or equipment.
Changes to airflow are not merely a matter of reducing a fan setting. The intended service of the room and the system’s design have to remain part of the decision. Separate spaces with different requirements in the project scope, state which areas are included or excluded, and make the responsible people part of design review and testing. Clark Hall is useful as an example of a differentiated approach, not permission to apply the same adjustment to research labs or other specialized rooms.
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Check controls, fans, pumps, and recovery systems as a package
Controls can affect how HVAC equipment operates, while fans, pumps, air handlers, and energy-recovery equipment affect the systems those controls manage. The university cases document packages that included HVAC controls, air-handler recalibration, variable-frequency drives on fans and pumps, and repair of energy-recovery equipment. Looking at connected components together can help the project team understand whether a proposed change fits the existing system and how its performance can be verified.
Do not select equipment in isolation from its controls, electrical requirements, maintenance needs, or expected operating conditions. Document compatibility and sequence-of-operation requirements in the design and commissioning plan so that construction, controls work, and testing address the same intended result.
Bundling related work can also make coordination important. Lighting, controls, HVAC, fans and pumps, and energy recovery may be considered within a coordinated project, but the scope should state how the pieces fit together and which results will be measured. Include the building operators who will maintain the installed systems, along with occupants or specialists whose spaces are affected, so that the selected package can be operated as intended after the project team leaves.
Choose upgrades that fit the building and project
Once operational problems have been addressed and remaining needs are understood, compare candidate upgrades using the building baseline and project constraints. Measures documented in the university cases include LED lighting conversions, lighting and HVAC controls, variable-frequency drives on fans and pumps, air-handler recalibration, energy-recovery repair, and water fixtures. Their presence in a case study establishes that they were used in those projects; it does not establish a uniform savings figure or suitability for every campus building.
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Evaluate the whole project, not just the equipment
- Energy and cost: Estimate potential savings from the building’s baseline and the proposed scope, rather than borrowing a percentage from another institution.
- Upfront cost and funding: Compare project cost with the available capital or financing path and the expected payback approach.
- Space requirements: Check effects on ventilation, comfort, laboratory needs, collections, and other requirements tied to room function.
- Compatibility: Confirm fit with installed equipment, controls, electrical specifications, lighting quality, and the building’s actual fixtures.
- Implementation: Consider disruption to teaching, research, and building operations, plus the maintenance burden after installation.
- Verification: Choose measures whose results can be tracked with available meters, utility data, or other defined performance checks.
These comparisons help explain why a measure that appears attractive on equipment price alone may not be the best campus choice. A candidate upgrade also has to work with the installed systems, preserve the room’s function, fit the institution’s funding approach, and produce a result the team can measure. The university examples do not provide a consistent technology-by-technology comparison dataset, so facilities teams should use building-specific estimates and project scopes rather than ranking measures from case results alone.
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Specify lighting for institutional conditions
LED conversions appear in the Clark Hall and Campbell Hall project descriptions, but an institutional retrofit is not simply a matter of substituting a generic consumer bulb. Confirm fixture and electrical compatibility, control compatibility, required lighting quality, applicable code, and procurement requirements for the actual space. Coordinate lighting work with controls where the project scope includes both, and define how the completed installation will be checked.
Coordinate design and construction around occupied spaces
Academic buildings may remain in use while work is planned or installed. Identify affected rooms and operating periods early, involve occupants and building operators in decisions, and coordinate access, testing, and any temporary changes in service. For specialized spaces, bring the relevant safety and design personnel into the process before selecting a measure. The scope should state what systems are changing, what functions must be preserved, and what evidence will show that the completed work performs as intended.
Procurement and design should use the same description of the intended outcome. Specify the equipment or system interfaces that matter, the required controls behavior, the spaces included in the work, and how testing will demonstrate that the project meets its stated purpose. A clear scope makes it easier to compare proposals on relevant factors—cost, compatibility, disruption, maintenance, and verifiability—instead of comparing equipment labels without the building context.
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Published campus examples demonstrate that substantial results are possible from coordinated project scopes, but their reported outcomes belong to those projects and baselines. They should not be treated as forecasts for a different academic building or as the savings attributable to any single measure.
| Project or program | Reported result | Context |
|---|---|---|
| University of Virginia, Clark Hall | 65% annual energy savings and $750,000 in annual energy-cost savings | U.S. Department of Energy case study published June 3, 2019; savings are reported against the pre-retrofit baseline for a package that included lighting conversion, HVAC controls, air-handler recalibration, energy-recovery repair, and space-specific airflow adjustments. |
| University of Virginia Building Efficiency Program | $70.6 million in savings at a cost of $29.3 million, or $41.3 million net savings | Cumulative program figures reported by the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings case page through its stated reporting period; they describe the program, not an individual building. |
| University of Virginia Building Efficiency Program | $5.4 million in avoided energy costs | Calendar year 2022, as reported by the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings case page. |
| Morehouse College | More than 30% energy-intensity reduction since 2023 | Reported by the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings page; the interval “since 2023” is part of the reported figure. |
The Clark Hall result came from a package and comparison with a pre-retrofit baseline, not from a single universal upgrade. The program and Morehouse figures use different contexts and measures of performance, so they are not a like-for-like technology comparison. These case results show why a project needs its own baseline, scope, and verification plan.
In particular, energy savings, energy-cost savings, avoided energy costs, and energy-intensity reductions are not interchangeable labels. Clark Hall’s reported annual energy savings and cost savings describe that project against its pre-retrofit baseline. UVA’s program figures describe cumulative program results and costs through the period stated on its case page, while its $5.4 million avoided-cost figure refers specifically to calendar year 2022. Morehouse’s reported reduction is an energy-intensity figure over the stated “since 2023” interval. Keep the measure and period attached to every result when presenting examples or setting expectations.
Fund improvements and verify performance
Funding models can help turn measured results into future work. The University of Virginia’s Building Efficiency Program describes a cost-recovery approach, with reported cumulative savings and program costs as shown above. A revolving-fund approach links verified savings to later projects, but the financial method and terms need to fit the institution’s own budgeting and accounting arrangements.
For UVA, the U.S. Department of Energy Better Buildings case page reports $70.6 million in savings at a cost of $29.3 million, yielding $41.3 million in net savings since program inception through the page’s stated reporting period. It also reports $5.4 million in avoided energy costs during calendar year 2022. These figures illustrate a program-level cost-recovery model; they do not establish the return or payback period for a different institution or individual building. A campus considering a similar approach needs to define how costs and savings will be attributed and tracked under its own arrangements.
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Define measurement before construction
Before implementation, document the baseline, project scope, measurement method, and the conditions that could affect the comparison, such as changes in space use or operating schedules. Decide who will collect and review the data, how energy use and cost will be tracked, and what comfort or maintenance checks will accompany the energy assessment. If the project changes several systems at once, document the package so the final result is not incorrectly attributed to one component.
Choose a measurement approach that matches available data and the project. Utility records may show the building’s overall energy trend; submeters, when available, can add detail about a building area or system. Whatever the method, define it before work begins and retain the baseline period and relevant operating context. Without that preparation, the team may have difficulty determining whether a result reflects the upgrade, a change in occupancy, a revised schedule, or a different project scope.
Close the loop after installation
After work is complete, test the systems against their intended sequences, confirm the spaces still meet their operational needs, and compare energy data with the defined baseline using the agreed method. Track cost, comfort, maintenance, and project scope alongside energy use. If performance differs from expectations, investigate whether the cause is controls, schedules, equipment, occupancy, or a change in how the space is used before planning the next project.
For a facilities team, the most dependable path is iterative: profile and prioritize buildings, audit and commission existing systems, correct verified faults, select space-appropriate upgrades, and measure the outcome. That makes later capital decisions more specific than a campus-wide wish list and gives operators a basis for refining the next round of work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can we reduce energy use in a university building?
Start with utility and any available submeter data, floor area, schedules, system information, and known comfort or maintenance problems. Use that profile to prioritize an energy audit and existing-building commissioning. Correct verified schedule, control, calibration, flow, and maintenance issues first, then evaluate upgrades that fit each space and verify results against a defined baseline.
What are the most effective energy-efficiency upgrades for an academic building?
There is no single upgrade that is best for every academic building. University cases document LED lighting, lighting and HVAC controls, variable-frequency drives on fans and pumps, air-handler recalibration, energy-recovery repair, water fixtures, demand-control ventilation, and ventilation optimization. Choose among them based on the building’s baseline, installed systems, room requirements, cost and funding path, disruption, maintenance needs, and ability to measure results.
How should a campus prioritize energy improvements across buildings?
Build profiles using energy data, floor area, schedules, system types and age, and known issues, then compare buildings to identify outliers and clear opportunities for closer investigation. Use audits and occupant input to distinguish operational corrections from repairs or capital needs. A building comparison helps direct attention; it does not establish that buildings with different uses or ventilation needs have the same savings potential.
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Can ventilation or airflow be reduced in research laboratories to save energy?
Do not assume that airflow changes appropriate for offices or support areas are appropriate for laboratories. In the University of Virginia’s Clark Hall case, reported airflow reductions applied to office and support spaces; actual research laboratories were excluded. Identify the requirements of each space and coordinate facilities staff, occupants, laboratory safety personnel, design professionals, and procurement before changing laboratory ventilation.
How much energy or money can an academic building save?
Savings are project-specific, and the available university examples do not establish a generally applicable percentage. UVA’s Clark Hall project reported 65% annual energy savings and $750,000 in annual energy-cost savings against its pre-retrofit baseline for a coordinated package of measures. That result is not a forecast for another building; establish a building-specific baseline, scope, and measurement plan.
Should we replace HVAC equipment before commissioning it?
Audit and test existing systems before specifying replacements when practical. Functional testing, control checks, schedule review, calibration, and air or water balancing can reveal whether a problem is operational or reflects a hardware limitation. Findings may point to tuning or repair, or may demonstrate that capital work is needed; the decision should follow the evidence and the building’s requirements.
The Bottom Line
Improve energy efficiency in an academic building by using data to prioritize, auditing and commissioning existing systems, fixing verified operating and maintenance problems, and selecting upgrades that fit each space’s use. Define the baseline and measurement method before work begins, then verify energy, cost, comfort, and maintenance outcomes after installation. Campus case results are useful examples, not savings guarantees for another building.
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