Facilities

UNM Facilities Maintenance Department

Facilities Maintenance (FM) is imperative to UNM’s energy conservation accomplishments. The Facilities Maintenance department finds and repairs issues before they become larger problems in the buildings. When HVAC and lighting issues persists for a long period of time, more energy is wasted trying to keep the building comfortable. FM ensures issues are fixed in a timely manner so that the building’s HVAC and lighting systems are working as efficient as possible, which also helps comfort for occupants.

FM doesn’t just wait for work orders to ensure buildings are working properly. FM looks at energy reports monthly to determine if there are underlying issues in the buildings that need to be addressed. If there is a spike in energy consumption, FM investigates with help from the Energy Controls office to determine the cause of the increased energy.

The University of New Mexico’s reduction in energy consumption is a campus wide success story. Since 2008, the UNM community has reduced energy consumption by 26 percent, and has avoided over $100 million in expenses to utility companies. Facilities Management, security, students, faculty, and staff are responsible for this accomplishment. Every person in the UNM community has an important part to play in the energy conservation program.

Facilities Management Engineering and Controls

Facilities Management’s Engineering & Energy Services department is vital to the UNM Sustainability and the Energy Conservation Program. Engineering & Energy Services is responsible for updating UNM campuses with the greatest and latest building technology.

Starting in 2011, UNM has upgraded nearly all of its exterior lighting to LED,  and now only installs LED.

UNM has instituted occupancy-based controls for both HVAC and lighting in its projects, so that lights can be turned off and dampers closed automatically when spaces are unoccupied.

Over 90 percent of UNM buildings on all campuses have Building Automation Controls (BAS).

As part of the energy services focus, existing buildings are re-commissioned to optimize building performance and energy conservation. This service provides comfortable environments for our customers and reduces energy consumption. This work has already demonstrated significant energy savings as measured by building utility metering systems.

Planning, Design, and Construction (PDC)

When it comes to new construction and the renovation of existing buildings, PDC help design and provide guidance toward sustainable capital projects. To help lower GHG emissions, UNM buildings are designed with consideration for the environmental impact over the life of the facility. Construction or renovation projects at UNM are designed to emphasize the life cycle costs associated with the operations and maintenance of the facility over initial capital costs and to meet or exceed the U. S. Green Building Council's LEED Silver standard per the Governor's Executive Order 2006-001.

Learn more about PDC at https://pdc.unm.edu/index.html