University Business - June 2006 - (Page G14)

Going Green while Saving Green The Starting Line TEAM ENERGY ALTHOUGH IT'S EASY TO TALK about energy savings, launch- volunteers are, at least, guaranteed fun. But it's a party with a purpose, Boyt stresses. ing effective programs often Winning Hearts presents challenges. One of At Tulane University in New Orleans, the return to campus operations after Hurricane Katrina the major stumbling blocks for meant that Liz Davey, program manager in the Office of Environmental Affairs, could pick up higher learning institutions starts where she left off in crusading for energy efficiency. Previous efforts involved using federal grant with organizing and tracking the money to hire four students to brainstorm energy efficiencies. One semester, the crew calculated energy bill information on a per- Tulane's greenhouse emissions, as well as did a hilarious study of energy use in one four-bedroom building basis, says Katy Hatcher, student apartment. Its occupants operated more than 56 appliances and lights. the national manager for the That sparked the idea of a model energy-efficient dorm room, which two of the students agreed public sector partnership at to assemble and live in. They eventually hosted every administrator who influenced purchasing de- cisions during the 2001-2002 school year. A newsletter article about the endeavor generated more Energy Star. Often colleges and than 10,000 hits on the office's website for additional energy-efficiency tips. universities are master metered, The room's fame set off an energy-efficiency contest between residence halls. The prize? An ice which means they aren't neces- cream party with Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's. Students enjoy working together. It makes it sarily recording the energy use easier to have continuity of projects even as individuals go abroad or have heavy course loads, and to each building. it makes the projects more student-driven than staff driven, Davey says of her young employees. A second barrier: contract She hopes to turn the time students spent on other campuses during Tulane's hurricane clean-up and organizational limits. Hatcher into solid contacts that will spread the program throughout the South. Sarah Hammond Creighton, program manager for the Tufts University's Climate Initiative, often works with administrators also purchases student input. She pays student eco reps a $100 stipend per semester to spread to dispel the notion they should advice such as how to shut down the dorms properly for winter break. It's small potatoes savings wait for grant money before compared to the lighting upgrades and consolidated HVAC systems she's invested in, but her real doing an energy efficiency goal is to buy acceptance to new ways for new days. improvement. Often energy We are moving from a cultural customer service angle to one of energy savings, Creighton ex- efficiency improvements are plains. When somebody phones to say, `I'm too cold,' instead of ... jacking up their heat, we say, `It is at our temperature policy, so I am terribly sorry. May I suggest a sweater?' That process will include lumped into the capital budget- human resources, our college's citizenship, our facilities folks supervisors as well as technicians. ing process when they could We don't want to have the Ronald Reagan reputation of energy conservation being about freezing be using things like tax-exempt in the dark. We want to identify opportunities for savings and develop a uniform policy. purchase agreements or master Western Michigan University officials surely scored popularity points with students when they leases to fund the improvements announced an extra seven days off for winter break at the Kalamazoo campus. Spring break, too, out of their operating budget, will be extended by seven days moves they anticipate will save $600,000 in heating and lighting. she points out. That's why Energy On the other end of the country, 85 percent of Western Washington University students voted to pay $1.05 more per credit hour, so the school could buy 35 million kilowatt-hours of green-pow- Star makes available a cash-flow ered electricity from Puget Sound Energy in 2005-2006. It was a $350,000 investment decision. opportunity calculator at its web- Down the road in Olympia, students at The Evergreen State College copied that initiative, site, www.energystar.gov, to help while The University of Oregon's student government spent $100,000 on solar panels for campuses understand how much campus buildings. Tim Wynn, director of that campus's facilities management, gives WWU money they potentially would credit for expanding the idea of renewable energy. Every kilowatt of renewable energy gener- have to invest in energy effi- ated and used is a kilowatt less of fossil fuel being burned and dumped back as heat and carbon ciency equipment and the cost of dioxide into the atmosphere. Not to mention, WWU's move brought national recognition when the U.S. Environmental delaying improvements. Protection Agency, DOE, and Center for Resource Solutions selected the university for its 2005 Finally, Energy Star offers Green Power Leadership Award. consultants to help guide ad- Wynn's advice on how to duplicate that success: Get a group of active, intelligent, articulate ministrators through the assess- students and turn them loose. Students initiated this action and supported it strongly to the ad- ment tools like the EPA's energy ministration and Board of Trustees. It would not have been considered otherwise. performance rating system and explore financing options. Julie Sturgeon, a Greenwood, Ind.-based freelance writer, frequently covers facilities and construction topics. G14 | June 2006 universitybusiness.com GreenEnergy.indd GreenEnergy.indd G14 5/18/06 2:31:45 PM http://www.energystar.gov http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - June 2006

Contents
College Index
Advisory Board
Company Index
Editor's Note
2006 AV Buyers Guide
Admissions
Internet Technology
On the Hill
Financial Aid
Going Green while Saving Green
Viewpoint
Back from the Breach
Value Added
Need Help?
Shared Pain & Payoffs
What's New
Direct Connect
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - June 2006