It should come as no surprise that John Dilliott, the Energy and Utilities Manager for the campus, line dries his clothes. And he is a hypermiler, a driver who uses a variety of techniques to maximize fuel economy, including sticking to the speed limit and avoiding sudden starts and stops. John has always cared about the environment and living a green life. He graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1987 with a degree in marine engineering, which gave him a healthy respect for the ocean and provided the educational foundation to optimize efficiencies in energy systems. He first worked at UC San Diego from 1993 to 1998 as an operator at the Central Plant. He left the university for a year, but returned in 1999 to help build the campus’ cogeneration plant. In this interview, he talks about the university as a leader in sustainability, and what you can do today to live a greener life.

Dilliott: Without a doubt, it’s the people.  From the students and the academic and research communities to planning, design, construction and campus operations, we simply have the best and brightest people working in a collaborative way.  We motivate each other, through our different expertise, to excel at what we love to do.  And because of the leadership at the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor levels, we are limited only by our own imagination. 

Focusing on my area of expertise in facilities, our sustainability initiatives gained momentum in the early 1990s when the campus embarked on a variety of energy efficiency infrastructure and building retrofit projects.  They pushed the envelope for technology at the time and set us up as leaders in the design and operations of lab buildings, which drive the majority of our energy consumption.  That base of experience has allowed us to embark on our new initiatives, especially in the area of renewable energy.

Dilliott: I will always rank our installation of the cogeneration plant in 2001 as the top project. The facility provides electrical and steam power to the campus community, and reduces nitrogen oxide emissions, the pollutant that forms smog. It increased efficiencies and lowered operating costs by staggering numbers.

The upcoming installation of a 2.4 megawatt fuel cell that will run off biogas methane, and the installation of one megawatt of solar panels, will make UC San Diego a leader in renewable energy generation. It will also set the stage for an incredible potential of related projects. In addition, we are currently changing out about 60,000 inefficient light bulbs throughout campus, which is no small endeavor. And there are incredible projects related to transportation, waste diversion and water conservation in the works.

Dilliott: My main role is to be part of the team that keeps everything working, while keeping costs down and planning for the future. The top priority is, and will always be, safety. I have so much respect for the people who work here, who ensure our systems operate properly. It amazes me sometimes how big our campus is and the sophisticated systems we operate have the ability to release enormous amounts of energy. 

The cost of energy, and the strategies we employ to reduce costs, drive a lot of decisions.  That will always be a major item because any money that we have to spend on utility bills is opportunity lost for the campus.  By necessity, we have had to become experts on the natural gas market because that fuels our cogeneration facility and accounts for approximately 70 percent of our utility expenditures. 

Energy efficiency and renewable energy projects round out the day for me.  Planning for projects is an art that requires engineering, economics, new technology and a healthy dose of common sense.  We’re finishing up a current cycle of about $3.5 million in energy efficiency projects and have submitted a comprehensive proposal to UCOP for $66 million in new projects.

Dilliott: First, take ownership for your energy use and do the basic stuff, like turn things off when you’re done using them and don’t use more energy than you need.  It’s tough to put a number on the impact of voluntary conservation, but I bet it’s more than we think.

Next is to tell us when something is wrong or if you have ideas of your own. I love getting the email that outside lights are on during the day and we find out it’s due to a time clock that has malfunctioned. 

For summer, I think two things really help.  The first is to dress appropriately.  The only way to save energy in the summer is to allow the temperature to rise in your space.  We know that it’s not productive when employees are hot and uncomfortable, but there’s lots of energy to save for every degree.  Next is to shift energy-use activities to the evening, if possible.  Demand for power is the highest between noon and 7 p.m.  The campus cannot generate enough electricity during peak hours to meet demand, so we must buy electricity from the grid, and it’s most expensive during peak hours.

Dilliott: There can be no higher goal than becoming a carbon-neutral and zero-waste campus.  It’s something we need to believe we can do and will take the efforts of everyone.  As far as projects, we have many in the cooker.  We are envisioning an Energy Park where we could combine the Fuel Cell output with waste-heat capture, advanced-energy storage, and alternative fuels for the fleet and carbon capture, to achieve the highest efficiencies ever recorded, as well as an incredible teaching opportunity.

There is also the potential to tap the deep, cold sea water in the La Jolla Canyon that is only about a mile off Scripps Pier.  We could displace about 10 percent of the campus energy use by replacing mechanical cooling with ocean cooling.  Once we determine that there will not be an impact to environment (Scripps researchers are helping to investigate), then I think the project could become a reality. 

Finally, we are trying to figure out how best to provide our building occupants with real-time energy usage data.  If you’ve ever driven a Prius, there’s no way you can prevent yourself from trying to get the best gas mileage when you’ve got that screen giving you instant feedback.  We still feel the campus community is the greatest untapped resource we have for energy and sustainability.

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