Inventorying Plug Load Equipment and Assessing Plug Load Reduction Solutions on a University Campus

The percent of energy consumed by plug load equipment in commercial buildings is on the rise. Research conducted in the past has included surveying plug load equipment, measuring plug load electricity consumption and equipment operating patterns, and studying plug load reduction solutions in office buildings, but plug load energy use across other building types is poorly understood. A university campus, which houses many building types, presents a unique opportunity to understand plug load profiles across building types. In this study, an equipment inventory was performed in 220 buildings on Stanford University’s campus, totaling 8,901,911 square feet of building space and encompassing lab buildings, office buildings, recreation facilities, public space, and service buildings. Within these buildings, 110,529 pieces of plug load equipment were recorded. Energy consumption estimates were developed from published values and used to evaluate the aggregate plug load energy consumption of this equipment by equipment type and by building type. In total, it is estimated that the plug loads from these buildings consume nearly 50 million kWh per year and comprise 32% of the electricity consumption of the buildings surveyed. Energy consumption and savings estimates were also used to analyze effective savings opportunities based on the equipment data gathered. These opportunities, while not yet field-tested, can be used to better target energy conservation efforts throughout multiple sectors.