Saving Energy at Berklee College

Just one year into a three-year partnership to provide energy and technical services, ARAMARK has introduced several innovative energy practices that have helped Berklee College of Music (Boston) reduce its campus-wide energy use by approximately 40 percent. This far surpasses the college's initial goal of a 10 percent reduction within the first year, and sets the stage for greater savings with additional enhancements that are planned over the next two years.

ARAMARK, a world leader in providing professional services, provides comprehensive facility services for higher education institutions, school districts, health care institutions, and businesses throughout the United States. Its portfolio includes energy management program development, utility procurement analysis and strategies, and utility master planning. The company also provides central plant and utility infrastructure management, electrical and power distribution management, and building management, as well as building commissioning and construction management.

The company maintains more than 1.6 billion square feet of facility space worldwide.

ARAMARK's energy management programs are a vital component of an institution's overall strategy toward environmental stewardship. Through its services, ARAMARK helps institutions calculate their carbon footprint, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, procure alternative energy, achieve LEED certification, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"As a leader in energy management, ARAMARK has been very aggressive in finding innovative ways to reduce our energy spend, with minimal capital investment," said John Eldert, Vice President for Administration for Berklee College of Music. "Our new energy initiatives are not only saving tuition dollars, they are also improving our environmental footprint and the comfort of our facilities for students and event attendees."

A Remarkable Duet
Berklee College of Music is the world's largest independent music college, with approximately 4,000 students and 500 faculty members. Its facilities include many rich resources to help students develop competencies in composition, performance, and music recording and production, including classrooms, ensemble rooms, music labs, recital halls, and libraries and learning centers. Its campus includes the Berklee Performance Center, which seats 1,200 attendees in its main hall and hosts more than 130 music events annually.

ARAMARK provides Berklee with a dedicated on-site energy manager, whose role is to lead the energy program, while fully integrating energy management within the overall facility management program.

ARAMARK is implementing a comprehensive program that capitalizes on the entire continuum of both energy supply and demand side opportunities, while creating community awareness and training staff. The program is opportunity, rather than equipment, sensitive. The team focuses on end-use systems that drive inefficient operation of generation and distribution systems. It analyzes usage patterns and periods when demand is highest, such as during classes or specially scheduled events. ARAMARK then develops an equipment operating plan that aligns with these patterns. By reducing campus demand for energy, Berklee is able to reduce its emission of greenhouse gases. In addition, ARAMARK has developed custom reporting tools required for establishing energy management priorities and for monitoring program progress.

"Our approach is unique because it balances community engagement, capital investment, energy procurement, and optimization of existing systems operation. Our integration of these areas has an immediate and sustainable impact on a campus' carbon footprint while providing the greatest return on capital and human investment," said Ron Mesaros, associate vice president of technical services for ARAMARK. "Without this comprehensive approach, an institution runs the risk of implementing a series of disparate measures that lack a unifying strategy or that don't support institutional goals. In doing so, it may miss tremendous greenhouse gas reduction potential."

December 3, 2007