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UMASS W.E.B. DU BOIS LIBRARY

AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY

The W.E.B. Du Bois Library is a 26-story, 310,000 ft2 building that houses special collections, offices, computer labs, media storage and book stack areas. The facility is served by over 20 AHUs, two chiller plants, 14 heat exchangers and 60+ pumps. The building frequently had occupant comfort complaints and pressurization issues.

B2Q was contracted to conduct an investment-grade EBCx study and turnkey implementation services including Engineering, sub-contractor management, CxA, M&V and utility incentive. The EBCx study identified over ten energy-savings and twenty-five performance-improvement measures to address the pressurization and occupant comfort issues.

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  • Installing air curtains, weather stripping and revolving doors to improve building pressurization

  • Pneumatic to DDC conversion to improve equipment control and reliability

  • Conversion from constant volume airflow and pumping control to variable volume

  • Re-balancing outdoor air systems and adding sophisticated DCV sequences

  • Significantly improved building pressurization control

  • Over 1,000,000 kWh annual electric savings and 4,000 Mlbs annual steam savings $200,000 in avoided annual energy costs

  • Improved equipment control, reliability and visibility after converting to DDC

Market:

Colleges and Universities

Services:

Energy Efficiency and Analysis
Building Systems
Implementation Services
Building Commissioning

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The ETIC RCx project was an outstanding success, delivering verified energy savings and operational improvements that exceeded UMass Lowell’s expectations. The project achieved impressive annual cost savings—10% higher than initially projected—while reducing energy intensity by 14% for UMass Lowell’s third-largest utility account.

Beyond cost savings, the initiative delivered significant environmental benefits, cutting annual carbon emissions by 530,000 lbCO2e. Additionally, it enhanced lab safety through robust lab pressurization tracking and the recalibration of all terminal devices.

This success was made possible through the unwavering collaboration between UMass Lowell, B2Q, and NGRID, demonstrating the power of partnership and a shared commitment to cost efficiency, sustainability, and operational excellence.

Daniel Abrahamson 
University of Massachusetts Lowell

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