Green Efforts

Trevecca Nazarene Pursues Energy Reduction

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 04/19/10

A $17,000 project at Trevecca Nazarene University is expected to reduce energy usage by about 15 percent in one building on the Nashville, TN campus. The 2,400-student university worked with Energy Automation Systems Inc. (EASI), a Tennessee engineering firm, to reduce the energy requirements of the 25,000 square-foot Mackey Building, built in 1961. The three-story building serves as classroom space and home of the School of Education.

Energy Automation performed tweaks to the building's electrical systems and lighting. "If, as we expect, it meets or exceeds estimates, we plan to roll out the same technologies across the campus," said Glen Linthicum, university plant operations director.

Return on investment was an important selling point, added David Caldwell, executive vice president of finance and administration. "We expect a less than 34-month payback, which is good for the university both in the return we'll receive in the short term and the savings that will result over the 30-year life expectancy of the EASI technologies," Caldwell said.