2 classrooms inch UH toward its energy goals

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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

The University of Hawaii-Manoa College of Education’s Flexible Response to Ongoing Growth buildings — aka FROGs — are the first net-zero energy buildings at the Manoa campus. Chad Miller, above left, holds his class in FROG 1, which is equipped with high-efficiency fans, photo sensor-controlled lighting and a large bank of windows that provide natural ventilation.

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The University of Hawaii inched 2,800 square feet closer to reaching its goal of net-zero energy consumption by 2035.

UH Manoa plans to showcase two finished classrooms today that will generate more energy than they consume.

The buildings at the College of Education are some of the first steps the university has taken toward meeting its net-zero energy goal. In 2015 Gov. David Ige signed into law a goal that requires the University of Hawaii System to be net-zero by 2035.

“These are the first net-zero buildings at any UH campus,” said Jim Maskrey, associate specialist with the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at UHManoa.

UH campuses, with more than 500 buildings total, cover roughly 9 million square feet.

Maskrey said the university will be able to apply the design principals of the two classrooms to many types of buildings across UH campuses.

The university used $2 million of a Navy grant to build the two 1,400-square-foot classrooms, breaking down to roughly $700 per square foot.

“It’s going to be more expensive. It’s new technology,” said university spokesman Dan Meisenzahl. “Like any new technology, it might be pretty expensive in the developmental stage.”

UH said it spent $1.3 million on the materials and $720,000 for construction. University Facilities Management also spent approximately $400,000 on grading, site preparation and landscape.

The materials used for the classrooms include high-efficiency LED lighting; the lights have adjustable modes and sensors that respond to natural daylight; the walls and ceilings are insulated; the windows feature a glazing that allows light through while minimizing heat gain; the classrooms also have natural ventilation and regular air conditioning. Each of the two rooftops will be fitted with 5-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) arrays. Each classroom also has a real-time dashboard that shows current and past operating conditions, including outdoor climate and indoor comfort indicators as well as energy use by the different components.

Maskrey said the solar system will be installed in the first or second quarter of 2017, estimating its cost to be roughly $50,000 for each classroom.

Meisenzahl said the solutions UH puts in place to reach its 2035 goal won’t always look like the net-zero classrooms.

“We have a net-zero goal, but there is going to be a number of different ways we reach that goal,” Meisenzahl said.

State Rep. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-Waimanalo) said the upfront cost of the energy-efficiency buildings will be offset by savings in the long term. Lee introduced the legislation on the university’s energy goal that Ige signed into law in 2015.

“This is a huge step forward for the university,” Lee said. “We know if we do nothing they will have to spend nearly $1 billion on their electric bill for the next 20 years. The faster they can build out net-zero facilities across their campus, the faster they will save money in the long term, and that’s what it is all about.”