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Bold Thinkers Behind Duke's Sustainable Operations

By District Energy posted 01-25-2023 11:56

  

Duke Today

Summary

For Tavey Capps, there’s much more to Duke than higher education, athletics and health care.

As executive director of Climate and Sustainability at Duke, Capps sees it more like a city unto itself, with a complex transportation system, utility infrastructure, food services and purchasing power.

Since taking on the role in 2006, Capps has worked to ensure that Duke’s commitment to sustainability and addressing the climate crisis have become part of the fabric that makes up the university. She works with a dedicated team of professionals whose job (and often personal passion) is to ensure that Duke reduces its environmental footprint in numerous, and sometimes unseen, ways.

“Every little bit of efficiency we can wring out of our energy systems on campus is a step toward climate neutrality,” said Casey Collins, interim director of utility operations and assistant director of energy management and data systems.

From the nearly 20 on-campus chillers that serve as the cooling source for 21-million-square-feet of the main campus, to the three substantial photovoltaic solar arrays located across campus, are all part of Duke’s commitment to becoming greenhouse neutral by 2024.

“We are doing whatever we can to influence energy at every possible level. How we use it, how we supply it, and we how we procure it, which means policy and regulatory engagement to see how we can get more access to other options,” Collins said.

There are three chiller facilities. Chilled water is an efficient way to cool buildings, thus saving energy and money.

During a tour of Chiller Plant No. 3, the most recent to open in the summer of 2020, Collins explained to a group of graduate students how a nearby six-acre storm water reclamation pond meets about three-quarters of the needs of the five chillers humming in the plant.

“It helps limit our burden on Durham’s water system and it’s cheaper. We are not having to buy water. It’s fractions of a penny per gallon and it cleans up storm water that then flows out into Sandy Creek to New Hope Creek and finally to Jordan Lake,” Collins said.

In addition, implementing district cooling reduces the campus electrical need by at least 60,000,000 kilowatt-hours each year compared to having individual cooling equipment at each building. That amount of energy was worth about $3.3 million last year alone, a savings figure that Collins said will grow in the next decade as costs continue to rise in North Carolina.

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