UNM was awarded a 2008 Energy Star for energy efficiency and fuel savings.
The Physical Plant Department was awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for producing power and heat with only one fuel source, said Larry Schuster, a utilities engineer in the department.
The department's cogeneration unit is powered by a gas-turbine engine, Schuster said.
Cogeneration generates heat and energy at the same time.
Conventional power plants give off heat when they create energy, but cogeneration plants capture the heat and put it to use, Schuster said.
He said UNM consumes about 20 MW at its peak during the year, equivalent to about 330 household light bulbs.
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The unit produces about 18 percent of the University's electricity, he said.
"What comes out of our engine is hot gas," Schuster said. "But we capture it and use that hot gas to boil water to make steam."
Student Rachel Velarde said it's nice to see UNM taking steps to help reduce greenhouse gases.
"I would like to see more efforts taken by our government to help in the fight against global warning," Velarde said.
President David Schmidly said UNM is obligated to lead by example.
"We are a big enterprise, and we have a big physical plant, so we have an opportunity not only to educate, but to demonstrate," he said.
Schmidly said it is important for the University's leadership to be on the same page on the environmental issue.
"I think it's something we need to embrace at the highest levels of the University and show the public that we are very serious about using our energy as wisely as we can and reducing the consumption that we have," he said.
Schmidly said UNM should continue to work on becoming self-sufficient. There has been more pressure from the state government to implement energy-saving techniques, he said.
"The governor said he wants all state agencies to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by the year 2020," he said.
Schmidly said UNM is on track to meet that goal.
"My goal is to be the first agency in the state of New Mexico to achieve that status," he said.
