The project was previously featured in an article in APPA’s Facilities Manager magazine. The award will be presented to Valpo during the organization's annual conference July 8.

Press Release

May 22, 2009

VALPARAISO, Ind. - A Valparaiso University project that replaced the natural gas and electrical distribution systems throughout campus has won recognition from the nation’s leading organization of educational facility managers.

APPA recently named Valpo a winner of its 2009 Effective and Innovative Practices Award, one of the organization’s highest honors for facilities management. The award recognizes programs and processes - particularly those displaying a high-level of innovation and adaptability for other schools - that enhance service delivery, lower costs, increase productivity, improve customer service, generate revenue or otherwise benefit an educational institution.

“For many years, Valpo’s facilities management staff has worked to conserve energy even while adding new and renovated buildings,” said Fred Plant, executive director for facilities management. “It’s gratifying to have our peers recognize the success of our efforts in creating a more efficient and sustainable campus.”

The project honored by the APPA involved the University negotiating a contract with Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) in which the utility company replaced and took over maintenance of the natural gas and medium voltage distribution systems on campus. In return, the University entered into NIPSCO’s rate structure and allowed the company to build a new substation to replace a 45-year-old substation on campus.

At the same time that the natural gas and medium voltage distribution systems on campus were replaced, an old central heating system was replaced by high-efficiency boilers installed in 15 buildings.

Plant noted that Valpo's energy consumption fell significantly - approximately 12 percent - in the year following completion of the new distribution systems and boiler installation, helping to offset rising energy costs.

The project also resulted in lower maintenance expenses, reallocation of facilities management personnel to other tasks, better monitoring of energy use in each building, greater redundancy in the campus power supply and the elimination of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance.

“The payoffs for the University were that several old systems were replaced with new ones that are more efficient,” Plant said. “Future capacity and reliability issues are gone, and we can now monitor energy consumption by building and work with occupants to explore opportunities for further conservation.”

At the same time, Plant said NIPSCO has benefitted from obtaining a new substation that serves customers beyond Valpo’s campus and gaining a better sense of future campus growth and potential revenue streams.

Meanwhile, the new natural gas and electricity distribution systems and high-efficiency boilers have reduced the time Valpo’s facilities management personnel devote to working on the old utility systems and utility emergencies.

“We have a greater ability to focus on our core mission, more face time with our customers on campus, and recaptured an emphasis on preventative maintenance,” Plant said.

The project was previously featured in an article in APPA’s Facilities Manager magazine (available at
www.appa.org/facilitiesmanager/article.cfm?ItemNumber=2621&parentid=2547)
in December 2006, and the award will be presented to Valpo during the organization’s annual conference July 8.

Source: Valparaiso University