By Andrew Honeyman, PE & Paul Graves, PE
Central utility plants (CUPs) play a critical role in supporting higher education institutions, providing the heating, cooling, and electricity needed for efficient operation and maintaining a healthy, comfortable environment. Recognizing their foundational significance, universities must prioritize the development of comprehensive technical and financial plans for their CUPs. These plans should emphasize sustainability, with a strong focus on decarbonization to reduce the environmental impact and promote long-term energy efficiency. In this article, CMTA's Andrew Honeyman and Paul Graves share how planning between design teams and facility planners can create tailored funding opportunities, including Inflation Reduction Act incentives, to fund campus decarbonization.
Read the article to learn how CMTA helped the University of North Dakota utilize technical planning to produce well-informed financial modeling and right-sized financial plans for their CUP. By conducting technical and financial charettes, the project team allowed stakeholder feedback and consensus from various university departments to inform their approach to solving building issues and pursuing decarbonization.