This document summarizes an energy audit of student hostels at Universiti Sains Malaysia that analyzed energy consumption and awareness of energy conservation among students. It found that four hostels consumed more energy than others due to factors like occupancy, elevator usage, and enforcement of rules. On average, residents of different hostels consumed varying amounts of electricity per month. While most students were aware of energy conservation, the duration of light usage and participation in initiatives like Earth Hour showed room for increased engagement in sustainable practices. The study recommends actions like using motion-sensor lights and LED bulbs to reduce energy waste and further promote conservation awareness.

1. Energy consumption in student hostels of
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) :
Energy audit and energy efficiency
awareness
Kamarulazizi Ibrahim; Theam Foo Ng ; Ahmad
Firdaus Ahmad Shabudin; Mohd Sayuti Hassan;
Marlinah Muslim
Centre for Global Sustainability Studies
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang

2. Introduction and background
Methodology
Result and discussion
Way Forward
Conclusion
Outline

3. • Consumption of domestic electricity worldwide is
growing.
• Daily consumption in USM main campus
> US$ 4882.99 !
• The total population of USM residents is 29,389
consists of all students and staff.
• Area of USM (main campus) is 416.6 hectare.
This research assist to:
understand more about the level of energy
consumption.
understand the awareness level of student on
energy conservation.
.Introduction and background

4. Methodology
Mix-quantitative
Detailed lamp audit
Total energy
consumption
Energy consumption
for lighting
Preliminary audits

5. Saujana
(S)
Tekun
(T)
Restu
(R)
Indah
Kembara
(IK)
Aman
Damai
(AD)
Bakti
Permai
(BP)
Fajar
Harapan
(FH)
Cahaya
Gemilang
(CG)
Study Location

6. 1.Total energy consumption of each hostel
buildings
Facility and Utility Data Analysis
- 7 months utility bills ( January - July 2015)
- Rate of monthly energy consumption (kWh)
= Rate of monthly energy consumption (US$) / 0.055*
* Electrical tariff for university is US$0.055/kWh
based on TNB (National Grid) Electricity Tariff
C2.

7. 2. Energy consumption for lighting in each hostel and the
level of student engagement in sustainable energy
consumption practices
Field questionnaires
- 173 respondents ( student population)
- Using Close-Ended Question (Yes/ No)
Walk through survey
- evaluate electrical use of each hostel
- determined occupancy estimates based on room numbers,
types and quantity of lamp used in each hostel room,
lamp usage in voltages and also electricity wastage
- Energy used in a hostel per day 1
- Total energy used in USM hostels daily
1Assumptions
Each student in hostel room uses only one long and short fluorescent tubes except for the hostels Fajar Harapan, Restu,
Saujana and Tekun where each student shares one long fluorescent tube. Due to this sharing, a weightage
of 0.5 was assigned during the calculation of the energy usage for a fair comparison.
All rooms in the hostels are fully occupied by students.
Power that consumed by long and short fluorescent tubes are 36W and 18W, respectively.

8. Results
&
Discussion

9. Figure 1 Energy consumption of USM hostels from January to July 2015
•Four hostels (R, S, T and BP) > other hostels (IK, AD, FH and CG)
•3 categories FACTORS: natural (e.g. occupant number, elevator usage,
lifestyle (e.g. usage of prohibited electronic appliances, usage habits of the residents)
hostel rules enforcement (poor imposition of penalty).
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
Jan Feb March April May June July
Month
Aman Damai Bakti Permai Cahaya Gemilang Fajar Harapan
Indah Kembara Restu Saujana Tekun
Energy
consumption
(RM)
Total energy consumption in each hostel buildings

10. 274 334 321
194
817
1033
796 722
321
645
686
903
1792
1033
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Aman
Damai
Bakti
Permai
Cahaya
Gemilang
Fajar
Harapan
Indah
Kembara
Restu Saujana Tekun
Numberofresidents
Male Female
Figure 2 Total numbers of residents in USM hostels
• T highest - use of elevators.
- supplied to residential buildings
- supplied to non-residential buildings( foyer, flyover & guard house).
• FH was not equipped with energy consuming facilities like elevator.

11. Figure 3 Average energy consumption rates in each hostel in a month
1. Tekun (T) - US$7966.50 5. Indah Kembara (IK) - US$3135.82
2. Saujana (S) - US$5843.31 6. Aman Damai (AD) - US$2757.80
3. Bakti Permai (BP) - US$5831.07 7. Cahaya Gemilang (CG) - US$2143.05
4. Restu (R) - US$5470.11 8. Fajar Harapan (FH) - US$1471.77
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
Energy
consumption

12. Hostel
Total
number of
residents
kWh
AD 1168 441.2
BP 839 422.71
T 2066 557.45
R 2066 575.29
S 1864 394.23
IK 916 382.85
FH 600 144.62
CG 1119 396.40
Total energy consumption 3314.75
Table 1 Total daily energy consumption of each hostel

13. 0
5
10
15
20
25
Electricity
consumption (RM)
Figure 4 Electricity consumption rate of each resident in each hostel in a month
1. BP : US$5.52
2. T : US$3.86
3. IK : US$3.56
4. CG : US$3.34
5. S : US$3.26
6. R : US$3.18
7. AD : US$2.58
8. FH : US$2.28

14. Hostel Number of
respondents
Restu 21
Saujana 20
Tekun 21
Indah Kembara 23
Aman Damai 30
Fajar Harapan 16
Bakti Permai 21
Cahaya Gemilang 21
Total 173
Table 2 Distribution of respondents according to hostels
Figure 5 :Total number of 173
respondents participated
Energy consumption for lighting in each hostel
and level of student engagement in sustainable
energy consumption practices

15. Duration of lights
usage (hours)
Number of
respondents
1-4 24
4-8 84
8-12 39
12 and above 26
Total 173
Table 3 Duration of lights usageNumber of
respondents
Figure 6 Number of respondents switching off light when leaving room &
switching on light in daytime

16. Duration
(hours)
Number of respondents
AD BP T R S IK FH CG
1-4 7 2 4 4 3 0 5 0
4-8 11 5 7 7 15 14 5 18
8-12 9 3 7 5 2 7 4 3
12 and
above 3 11 3 5 0 2 2 0
Table 4 Duration of lights switched on at each hostel
Number of
respondents
Figure 7 Awareness on the Earth Hour
campaign among respondents
Awareness Figure 8 Number of respondents participated in the
Earth Hour campaign among 152
respondents who were aware of it

17. Way
forward
Earth Hour
LED Motion
Sensor Light
Light Emitting Diode
(LED) As Replacement
for Fluorescent Lamp
Electricity
Wastage

18. Conclusion
Most of the energy expenditures and
consumptions on hostel campuses in higher
education occur within buildings for heating,
cooling and lighting.
the level of student engagement in
sustainable energy consumption practices
was still moderate.
The students’ behaviour can have
significant impacts on energy conservation
and energy efficiency.

19. Kamarulazizi Ibrahim, PhD
Centre for Global Sustainability Studies
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
E-mail: kamarul@usm.my
Thank you &
Terima kasih 