“MIT is a leader in setting and achieving aggressive energy savings goals,” says Tilak Subrahmanian, vice president of energy efficiency for Northeast Utilities, NSTAR’s parent company. “With Efficiency Forward, MIT and NSTAR have set a new standard for partnering with customers that continues to influence other energy-efficiency efforts across our commercial, industrial, and technology sectors. We look forward to working together to achieve our new goals over the next three years.”

Since 2010, work through Efficiency Forward has touched nearly every building on MIT’s campus and started to influence the way the MIT community thinks about and uses energy. The construction of high performance, energy-efficient buildings such as the MIT Sloan School of Management — which beats the baseline building energy code by 45 percent — as well as the installation of energy efficient lighting and refrigeration; HVAC upgrades with advanced thermostats; and compressed air system consolidation have contributed to the success of the program.

In the next phase of the program, MIT and NSTAR will continue to identify opportunities across the building stock with a dedicated focus on maximizing energy savings in new construction projects and renovations. MIT and NSTAR will also create a robust public outreach program to further educate students, staff, and faculty on how they can support energy efficiency efforts around campus.

Since Efficiency Forward launched in 2010, MIT has saved more than $4.4 million in annual operating costs from the energy efficiency and conservation strategies utilized during the program and is expected to capture $50 million in savings over the lifetime of the projects. MIT is expected to save an additional $2.3 million annually from the new three-year program. Efficiency Forward includes a commitment to reinvesting a portion of these savings into future projects.

Publication date: 7/15/2013