Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois is a public community college of over 20,000 students and a leader in creating a greener and cleaner education and campus. When facing 40-year-old aging campus infrastructure, rising utility costs and new construction needs, Lake Land College officials initiated a multi-year plan called “Envision. Educate. Engage for a sustainable 
future.” Its goal is to create a replicable control system that generates energy on campus while reducing consumption. The holistic approach includes the region’s largest geothermal well field, solar and wind energy, smart grid technology, and green education programs for students. The efficiency program is helping the college achieve savings beyond its initial projections. Since launching the program, Lake Land has reduced CO2 emissions by 400 tons per year and it is saving more than $100,000 a year in utility costs. Download White Paper
For more than three decades, leading system integrator Dynamic Controls Inc. (DCI), and partner Schneider Electric have been Lake Land College’s partners for HVAC energy management. Schneider Electric’s building management system (BMS) manages all HVAC systems in 15 multi-use buildings on its 308-acre main campus. The BMS now also manages all the newer systems, including state-of-the-art geothermal heat and pumps, photoelectric displays, windmills, and chilled beams for cooling systems – some with third party BACnet® protocol – bringing them into a single convenient system. Campus wind power and geothermal energy production and conservation efforts are highlighted in reports and dashboards that are displayed on monitors throughout campus to showcase results and inspire students and faculty to be aware of their energy consumption. Additionally, DCI introduced the college to Schneider Electric’s Power Manager for SmartStruxure™ Solution, an embedded software solution for the BMS that provides users with actionable information to increase power awareness and ensure the ongoing health of electrical systems.