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Dixie State College is launching an energy-efficiency upgrade this summer that is expected to save $6.2 million in utility costs over the next 17 years.
Under a $4 million contract with Johnson Controls, the St. George campus will replace hundreds of fixtures — including those at the football stadium, which have thrown light all over town for years — as well as seal buildings, upgrade thermostat controls and automate lighting and ventilation systems.
The entire project, which will affect 70 percent of the campus, is being financed with savings on utility costs, according to Sherry Ruesch, Dixie's executive director of campus services. If the project does not save at least $284,000 the first year, Johnson will cover the difference, said Scott Rees, an account executive with the Milwaukee-based company.
"One of the big ones that make a difference is lighting. It will save the largest amount of money for any single measure," Rees said. Dixie's two events venues, Burns Arena and Hansen Stadium, which were built in 1987 and 1983, respectively, are still equipped with the original fixtures.
"The football field was way overlit. You can see them from anywhere in town. They will be better focused down on the field and better controlled so they go on and off when needed," Ruesch said. The new florescent lighting will also distribute illumination better to eliminate dark spots that irritated fans and television broadcasters.
Low-water fixtures are expected to conserve enough water to save $45,000 a year. And the energy-saving component of the project is expected to reduce campus carbon emissions by an amount equal to that produced by 218 homes, according to a company news release. That is equivalent to the volume of carbon soaked up by 564 acres of pine trees.
Johnson will use advanced control setbacks to make sure heating and cooling are delivered when they are actually needed. For example, carbon-dioxide monitors will determine whether a large auditorium is occupied. When the room is empty, the ventilation system will automatically power down.
College campuses all over the country are taking steps to shave energy use. The University of Utah, as a signatory to the Presidents' Climate Commitment, has vowed to cut carbon emissions by 25 percent every 10 years. It hopes to renovate its architecture college into one of the nation's first "net-zero" buildings — so efficient that it can meet its own energy requirements.
Dixie might lack the resources to meet goals that ambitious, but backers hope the project will demonstrate that energy efficiency makes fiscal, as well as environmental, sense.
"You're not just saving energy, but limiting deferred maintenance. The new lighting is less costly to maintain," Rees said.