AFTER PREVIOUSLY accumulating one of the highest energy savings among UST facilities, the St. Raymund de Peñafort building was identified as one of the most concerning facilities in terms of energy consumption in 2024.
The energy conserved by St. Raymund’s, which houses the Faculty of Arts and Letters and the College of Commerce and Administration, was cut by more than half last year, a downgrade from its 2023 performance when it earned the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) Award among medium buildings.
Data from the UST Facilities Management Office (FMO) showed that the building was able to save a total of 219,314.63 kWh of energy last year, lower than the 457,481.74 kWh it saved in 2023.
“With the same target kWh for both Y2023 and Y2024, it was obvious that the building’s energy consumption increased for Y2024. In fact, there are 3 months that it was not able to save [energy],” FMO Engineer Oliver Gagarin told The Flame.
St. Raymund’s failed to keep its consumption below the targets set in January (70,123.81 kWh), May (133,328.63 kWh) and in August (92,993.77 kWh).
Aside from St. Raymund’s, the Albertus Magnus and Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. buildings were also marked as the most concerning facilities in the energy category.
The data were presented during the annual Energy Management Forum held last month.
During last year’s forum, St. Raymund’s bagged the EEC Award in the medium category after using 38.58% less energy than its target consumption of 1,185,765.38 kWh. It was also able to cut its carbon footprint by 169,817.22kgs.CO2 and commit to six Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) set by the University.
This year, the UST Hospital’s edifices bagged all EEC Awards. The UST Data Center won in the small category after saving 351,463.58 kWh in 2024. Meanwhile, the St. Vincent Ferrer (747,389.94 kWh savings) and St. John Macias buildings (788,662.21 kWh savings) were awarded in the medium and large categories, respectively.
A total of 10 out of 27 Energy Accounting Centers (EACs) were nominated across the three categories: the small building category (5), the medium building category (3) and the large building category (2).
Facilities recognized as EACs may be nominated for the award if they accumulated energy savings, showed no need to realign their electricity consumption and have committed to at least one of the University’s 22 ECMs.
Overall, UST was able to reduce its energy consumption to 3.79%, meeting the 3.33% annual target. However, the figure is significantly lower than the overall accumulated savings in 2023 at 8.38%.
Gagarin explained that the University’s lower energy savings was due to increased load consumption across the 27 EACs.
“The savings results for Y2024 [are] good enough and we were able to meet the target of 3.33%. It did not surpass the 8% last Y2023 because of the load increase as exhibited by the 27 EACs,” Gagarin said, adding that the University must intensify its energy conservation measures in 2025 to make up for increased energy use.
Sustainability concerns
A sustainability study presented by students from the UST College of Architecture during the forum also found that health and well-being, water and materials were the top three concerns in St. Raymund’s last year.
According to Artlets faculty secretary Asst. Prof. Louie Benedict Ignacio, the FMO is looking to adjust the air conditioning temperature and use ceiling fans in the building to improve its energy efficiency.
“We’re waiting for further details on how to do it because if we want to see if there’s a difference, then we have to set a period when it will be implemented and compare the data for that period from the previous data,” Ignacio told The Flame.
Ignacio explained that the building is implementing measures aligned with the International Organization for Standardization’s Educational Organization Management System (EOMS), which provides a set of standards to ensure the quality, safety and service efficiency of organizations.
“So one is, for example, for our stakeholders who are with special needs in terms of mobility. So there are available wheelchairs because we have students and teachers who are using wheelchairs,” he said.
Ignacio said classes attended by faculty and students who use wheelchairs were moved to classrooms on the first floor even though ramps and elevators are already present in the building.
“So we identified the rooms being used by faculty and students who are using wheelchairs… So in terms of [the] well-being of students, stakeholders with special needs, we’re trying to address it one at a time,” Ignacio said.
He added that plans to resize the washroom doors are also in place to accommodate those with wheelchairs.
“So this one needs a little more planning because we need to change the size of the doors. It would require more. But that’s already in the pipeline as part of our proposal for renovation for 2025-2026,” the faculty secretary said.
To address concerns about the building’s effective management of wastewater, Ignacio said the building’s washrooms have deviated from using recycled water due to probable repairs in its water tanks, but such an arrangement pushed for higher consumption of clean water.
“Of course, that’s a welcome for us. Because the recycled water, although used only for flushing, still has a little smell. So it’s really being treated, but it still has a counting smell. So, on the other hand, our utilization of clean tap water has increased,” he said.
Highest energy saver
UST Hospital Facilities Engineer Earl Tacneng welcomed the three successive recognitions given to his unit, attributing them to efforts to be “even more proactive” in energy conservation.
“We are pleased that one or two buildings consistently earn recognition at every EMF…It is encouraging to have the strong support of our top management, which plays a crucial role in the success of our initiatives,” Tacneng told The Flame.
The UST Hospital’s Benavides Cancer Institute, which saved 309,431.76 kWh, was among the nominees in the small building category in this year’s EEC. In last year’s forum, it earned the EEC award in the respective category, along with the USTH – St. John Macias building in the large category.
According to Tacneng, some University hospital facilities have implemented various energy conservation measures in 2024, such as transitioning from conventional lighting to LED, replacing air conditioning units with inverter-type models and optimizing mechanical systems to minimize unnecessary energy consumption.
“Additionally, we have undertaken the improvement and rehabilitation of electrical systems, particularly in [the] new building, to enhance overall efficiency and reliability,” Tacneng said.
He added that while the relocation of departments to the hospital’s St. John Paul II building brought new challenges in meeting consumption targets, implementing load migration or strategically managing energy distribution across facilities brought significant power savings in other structures.
The 11-story St. John Paul II building was inaugurated last April 2022 and now houses the hospital’s facilities and technologies, including the Dermatology Center, Center for Respiratory Medicine, Blood Bank, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and San Jose Ward.
“Rather than sacrificing quality of service, load migration actually enhances it. We relocated departments from the old building to newly designed facilities, allowing end users the flexibility to customize their spaces according to their needs while ensuring compliance with codes and standards,” Tacneng said.
“This transition provided departments with larger, more modern areas, creating opportunities to acquire state-of-the-art machines that would not have been suitable in their previous locations. As a result, efficiency, functionality, and overall service quality significantly improved,” he added.
The UST Hospital is also partaking in Go! Renewable Time, a solar project initiated by the FMO to look into the use of solar energy to further decrease its energy consumption.
According to Tacneng, the St. John Paul II building is part of the ongoing feasibility and design phase of the project, with the aim of decreasing its power consumption by 5.24% with roof solar panel installations.
The hospital is also using smart sensors and infographics on energy conservation practices and prioritizing the rehabilitation of electrical systems to maximize energy efficiency, the facilities engineer said.
This year’s EMF, which assesses and aids the University’s sustainable energy management and energy conservation measures, was held at the UST Hospital Benavides Cancer Institute last Jan. 23. It carried the theme, “Gaining Collective Efforts to Enhance the Energy Savings Toward a Sustainable Environment.” F
