In Palo Alto, temperatures can swing from 50 degrees in the morning to 80 by afternoon. Such weather fluctuation, combined with constant needs for refrigeration and other low-temperature conditions in some locations, means Stanford can be heating and cooling its buildings in the same day, sometimes simultaneously. Indeed, studies revealed that campus warming and chilling operations overlap a whopping 70 percent of the time, resulting in a significant amount of waste heat discarded into the atmosphere. Why not figure out a way to redirect that heat to where it is needed?
That's just what Stanford's new Energy and Climate Plan aims to accomplish. By building a heat recovery plant, the University will capture 70 percent of the excess heat and reuse it to meet 50 percent of campus heating demands.
Fahmida Ahmed, associate director of sustainability and energy management, says the $250 million initiative will mandate stringent energy standards for new buildings, retrofit existing ones and transform the University's energy plant. These changes will reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions significantly, far exceeding the requirements of California's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act. The plan, projected to take five to 10 years to implement, also will save Stanford approximately $639 million over the next 40 years.
