About - Energy Audit (McLaughlin Natural Reserve)
The McLaughlin Reserve consists of only 2 buildings on 7000 acres of land. Though these two buildings are minimally occupied, they require $33,000 in annual energy costs. Students performed a full energy audit of the facilities, cataloging end-use devices, evaluating usage behavior, and identifying areas for improvement. It was found that heating and cooling accounts for 45% of total energy use. This could be significantly reduced by installing a more efficient HVAC system. This replacement was estimated to have a 5 year payback period and, if combined with the recommended lighting retrofits (see “Lighting Retrofit at McLaughlin Reserve), could reduce usage by 27,000 kWh per year resulting in $6000 of annual energy savings.