Energy Efficiency Made Easy

Energy Efficiency

Miami University maintained the architectural integrity of their historic residence halls and also realized great energy savings, with help from Mitsubishi Electric VRF systems.

In 1825, Miami University (Oxford, OH) built the three-story Elliott Hall men’s residence and its mirror image, Stoddard Hall, nine years later. In 1972, both halls were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2010, Miami University (Miami) tasked its physical facilities department with developing a utility master plan to grow its campus and shrink energy costs. Miami made geothermal cooling and heating a centerpiece of its sustainability strategy and committed to ending on-campus coal burning by 2025.

With Miami’s sustainability goals and the unique cooling and heating requirements of the two older buildings, they immediately thought of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems from Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating (Mitsubishi Electric). The team was impressed by the level of engineering design, but was really sold by the simultaneous cooling and heating capability. Energy modeling also showed a total building energy usage of 43 kBTU/h per square foot per year.

Seventeen 600-foot-deep geothermal wells were placed under the surrounding sidewalks. With no modern footings 150 years ago, there was no space for the Mitsubishi Electric water-source heat pumps. Easy-to-access mechanical rooms were built into each hall’s attic for three heat pumps and associated controls hardware.

To maintain the building’s architectural integrity, custom cabinets were designed and built to house the indoor units. These cabinets were only possible because of the two-pipe system design.

Metered as one, the two halls showed 2010-2011 annual energy usage of 740,000 kBTU/h. Following the Mitsubishi Electric installation, this number dropped to 346,000 kBTU/h — a 61 percent decrease in energy consumption compared to 2010. The oldest buildings on campus are now the most energy efficient.

Miami is so impressed with Mitsubishi Electric systems that they are now their system of choice for all new outlying buildings not tied into the central plant.

www.mitsubishipro.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Epson Receives Seven AV Industry Awards

    Projectors manufacturer Epson recently announced that it received multiple awards across the Higher Ed AV Awards, SCN Stellar Service Awards, and InfoComm 2025, according to a news release. The company was recognized for three projectors from its PowerLite L-Series line, accessories, installation process, and its customer support team.

  • Elevating Campus Maintenance: How Power Wash Drones are Transforming Educational Facilities

    As today’s campuses grow larger and more architecturally complex, keeping exteriors clean, safe, and inviting has never been tougher. Facilities leaders are under constant pressure to stretch budgets, meet safety standards, and support sustainability goals—all while tackling the stubborn challenge of exterior cleaning.

  • Case Study Highlights Texas District’s Campus Security Upgrades

    The Taft Independent School District near Corpus Christi, Texas, recently partnered with Intech Southwest Services to revamp its campus security technology system, according to a news release. Intech has released a case study on its website detailing the process that advanced the district’s technology by more than 20 years in less than three weeks.

  • AP Construction Breaks Ground on Two Projects for Austin ISD

    Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) recently announced that it has broken ground on two renovation projects for the Austin Independent School District, according to a news release. The work at McCallum and Anderson High Schools totals 97,350 square feet and is scheduled for completion in January 2027.

Digital Edition