University in Georgia streamlines operations and saves $90,000 annually

Maintenance costs were steadily increasing, straining budgets across the university’s 200+ buildings and 11 remotes sites. With limited staff, teams struggled to keep up with manual inspections and high-touch tasks. Energy spending remained elevated and siloed tools made commissioning and diagnostics slow and inconsistent. Alarm fatigue further reduced response effectiveness.

To modernize campus operations, the university chose OpenBlue Equipment Performance, OpenBlue Net Zero Plus, and OpenBlue Insights as part of a broader effort to unify data and elevate decision making across facilities.

These digital solutions supported the university’s shift towards exceptions-based maintenance and provided the visibility need to reduce inefficiencies. By standardizing insights across a diverse set of buildings, campus teams could prioritize work more effectively and plan ahead with greater confidence. This strategic direction enabled the university to scale coverage rapidly – from an initial 4 buildings to 40- reflecting its long-term commitment to smarter, more resilient operations.

The university’s shift to data-led operations strengthened the reliability of critical campus systems and reduced the burden of manual, repetitive tasks. These improvements supported the institution’s broader mission of enabling a high-quality research and learning environment.

Key results included:

• $65,000 in annual energy cost avoidance, enabling reinvestment into campus priorities
• $24,000 in annual maintenance avoidance
• 4-month return on investment, accelerating progress toward long-term operational excellence
• 115 corrective orders completed in the first year, improving building performance for research spaces and student facilities
• Streamlined VAV box damper and heater inspections, reducing delays that previously affected comfort and lab readiness
• Offset manual CO2 sensor calibration, enhancing air-quality monitoring into classrooms and academic buildings

Together, these steps delivered nearly $90,000 in annual savings and advanced the university’s goals of supporting research productivity, improving student experience, and ensuring resilient campus operations.

A leading public research university recognized for its engineering, computing, sciences, and interdisciplinary research. The institution serves tens of thousands of students, supports significant research activity, and maintains a large, diverse campus infrastructure designed to enable innovation, collaborations, and high-quality academic experience.