Welcome to the new Tiger Energy Site! With a new site comes new features, keep reading bellow to learn how to use all of them for an optimized sustainable experience
Overview
On our home site, you are able to view live energy usage as well as where the energy is coming from as how its being used. On the top of the screen, you will see a drop down that you to understand the total energy use as a function common items. (See image bellow)
Energy supply
Overview
On the supply overview page, you can see how much energy is coming from different sources as well as a live energy tracker that shows you up to date supply statistics. Again, there is the comparison tool that allows for comparison to everyday items
Weekly history
Here you can view the energy supply data over a weeks period of time. Toggle left and right to move week to week
Energy Supplies
For each energy supply, you can view both live and weekly energy supply data. Again, there is the comparison tool on the top of the live energy page as well as a week by week view on the weekly history page
Description of energy supplies:
Solar Array: With 16,500 photovoltaic panels covering 27 acres, Princeton‘s new solar collector field is among the largest single installations at a U.S. college or university.About 80 percent of the system is composed of SunPower T0 Trackers, which use a global positioning system to track the sun each day to maximize energy capture.The project site is located on land adjacent to Princeton‘s main campus between the New Jersey Transit "Dinky" spur line, the Delaware & Raritan Canal, Washington Road (Mercer County Road 572) and Route 1.The project was built on land that holds the “spoils” from dredging Lake Carnegie back in the 1970s, so it would have been quite challenging to farm or locate a building there.At night, the solar array reports negative power, as it draws energy from the grid to maintain its systems. On a night with a full moon, the solar array draws noticeably less power.
Gas turbine: Princeton operates a gas turbine engine that produces electricity and heat for steam. Derived from the same engine that propels the F/A-18 Hornet and F117 Nighthawk a.k.a. “stealth fighter” aircraft, the LM-1600 can produce over 15 megawatts of power, enough to power most of the campus.Princeton’s co-generation facility squeezes maximum efficiency out of the engine, by capturing the hot exhaust and using it to pre-heat feed-water before it enters the boilers.
Steam Turbines: These steam turbines capture energy that would otherwise be lost in Princeton’s steam distribution network.
Essentially small “backpressure” steam turbines driving an electrical generator, these self-contained power systems operate in parallel with pressure reducing valves. After high-pressure steam is used to generate electricity, it is exhausted from the system at a much lower pressure – required for safe use in campus buildings. The two small turbines in the basement of Dillon Gym produce enough electricity to power several dorms. In combination, they can produce a maximum of 540 kilowatts.
Chilled Water: Chilled water is used to cool the campus, and can also be used as an energy reserve.Electricity is used at night to chill water. The cold water is stored and then used during the day for air conditioning and research equipment such as lasers, CAT-Scan equipment, electron microscopes and computer facilities. This allows the university to purchase electricity when it is least expensive and avoid using power when it is most expensive and the electric grid is most stressed.A ton of cooling is equivalent to the amount of heat (removal) associated with melting 2000 pounds of ice over a 24 hour period.By centralizing heating and cooling operations in the co-generation plant and creating a “district energy system”, energy life-cycle costs and carbon footprint for Princeton’s campus is greatly reduced.
Steam: Steam is generated to deliver heat to campus buildings and for other needs such as sterilizers, cage washers, autoclaves, dining facilities, and domestic hot water.Steam travels via underground pipes to all buildings on campus, and is distributed within buildings at safe pressures.The campus can use up to 200,000 pounds of steam per hour. This is equivalent to about 237 million Btus per hour.By centralizing heating and cooling in the co-generation plant, the life-cycle cost and carbon footprint of campus energy are greatly reduced.
Steam Pressure: Steam is generated to deliver heat to campus buildings and for other needs such as sterilizers, cage washers, autoclaves, dining facilities, and domestic hot water.Steam travels via underground pipes to all buildings on campus, and is distributed within buildings at safe pressures.The campus can use up to 200,000 pounds of steam per hour. This is equivalent to about 237 million Btus per hour.
By centralizing heating and cooling in the co-generation plant, the life-cycle cost and carbon footprint of campus energy are greatly reduced.
Purchased Natural Gas: Natural gas is burned in the gas turbine and boilers to produce steam and electricity.A dekatherm is equivalent to 1000 cubic feet of natural gas (think of a cube, 10 feet on a side).Depending on the real-time price of electricity, it’s often more efficient for the university to buy natural gas and generate heat and power than to purchase electricity.
Purchased Grid Power: Princeton is connected to the PSEG electrical grid. At peak demand, Princeton uses as much as 27 megawatts of power.Because Princeton is such a large customer, it buys electricity at real-time prices that change every five minutes. The energy price generally correlates with how much power is being used by the whole Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland grid. Based on the predicted market price, Princeton Energy Plant operators decide whether to generate electricity or purchase from the grid.
Energy Demand
Overview
Just like the other overview pages, you can view both live history and a weekly overview of energy demand.
Residential College Rankings
The six residential colleges are listed in rank order by their projected energy use for this week. The week starts and ends on Sunday at 00:00:00 ET (Midnight on Saturday). The "baseline" is the average of the most recent two completed weeks. So if a college is "+3.5%" they are projected to use 3.5% less energy than they did on average over the previous two weeks. The projection is based on data collected today.
You can click on each college and view data specific for each.
College overview
On the overview page ,you can view the overview of all of Butler College as well as the individual building. There is the live feature and graph as well as the weekly history view.
Weekly Performance
On this page, you can view the details of the energy use as well as projections of energy use for the week ahead. You can view this data as an overview of the whole college as well as the individual buildings.
Other Buildings
For each building, you can view both live and weekly history.
