Campus Energy Savings

By Daniel Schemer

In response to growing financial concerns over recent cuts in state funding, the Office of Campus and Community Sustainability, in coordination with Administrative efforts, has initiated a massive energy conservation campaign for UMass Dartmouth. The campaign highlights energy efficiency as the most essential tool for saving money, jobs, programs, and, possibly, financial aid amidst this budget crisis.

"The university is in difficult budgetary times. In a financial crisis people get overwhelmed. With energy, we have some control and that helps people fell like their part of the community and the solution," said Susan Jennings, Director of the Office of Campus and Community Sustainability, who sees this issue as a window of opportunity for educating the population.

Running from November 22 to April 22, the campaign targets a realistic and challenging percentage for reduction in energy and gas bills during cold months. Intercession classes were moved off the main campus in order to perform a system-wide shutdown during winter break. Conservation on behalf of the administration, faculty, and staff involves lowering temperatures and turning off lights, computer and other equipment in buildings when not in use. Production of a new Green Purchasing and Energy Guide is being expedited for distribution among the campus population.

The idea of the energy conservation campaign is framed around historical context. Periods in history, like the Great Depression and World War II, had communities rationing food, electricity and other resources during hard economic times. "These were times in history when everyone recognized focusing less on individual interests and more on collective goals," said Ms. Jennings. This savings plan has not only reduced campus costs, but has helped spread sustainability awareness and influence on the community.

The most component of the campaign is the residential population; student groups and resident assistants have gotten involved in promoting the campaign. Getting students to be more conscious of their individual habits in the dorms is the deciding factor in the success of the initiative. Small behavioral changes, like keeping windows shut, turning off lights and vending machines in hallways and not having students' computers hibernate overnight eventually add up in energy reduction.

All this concern over campus energy usage has increased administrative efforts to seek cheaper, less damaging sources. Upgrades to the infrastructure of the campus steam plant have brought a shift from burning oil to natural gas. This means a substantial decrease in carbon emissions and, hopefully, campus cost. Research on wind power for the campus is in high demand and equipment, like a meteorological tower, which measures wind patterns for a year to determine the feasibility of generating adequate energy, are being investigated. There is also development to install energy meters for measuring electricity in every building instead of having one meter for the whole campus.

For more information, call the Office of Campus and Community Sustainability at (508) 910-6484, or click here to view energy saving tips.