Related Blog Posts - Energy

AASHE recently published its second issue of its AASHE Bulletin: Global Edition, and I wanted to take a moment to note a few that were particularly interesting to me. 

First, a story from an Australian AASHE member -

Authored by Stephanie Boyd, Director of the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives at Williams College. Re-posted with permission from the Sustainability at Williams blog. 

For the second year in the college’s experiment, we closed our doors on December 24th, shuttered up buildings, turned down the heat, turned off computers, refrigerators, photocopiers, and all sorts of other electrical equipment in an effort to save energy, minimize spending on utilities, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions during a relatively slow period in the academic calendar. When the doors to the campus opened again on January 4th, the college had succeeded in saving $100,000 in avoided utility costs; 430,000 kilowatt hours of electricity; and 4,840 million British Thermal Units of heating energy. To give an understanding of scale, about 2600 houses would use this amount of electricity in a 10 day period.

This avoided energy use represents 528 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), a 26% increase in emissions savings compared to last year, and 2.7% of FY09 total annual emissions of 19,600 tonnes.

by Jeffrey M. Baker, Director, Office of Laboratory Operations, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Commercial buildings account for 19% of the nation’s energy consumption, according to the Energy Information Administration, so when the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) decided to build a new office building to house its staff, energy performance was naturally a top priority. The new Research Support Facilities (RSF), currently in construction on the campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is utilizing a wide variety of energy efficiency measures to reduce energy consumption by 50% over standard commercial buildings. But the goal to achieve a LEED Platinum rating didn’t override a focus on cost. The RSF’s construction costs are competitive with today’s less energy efficient commercial buildings, proof that energy efficiency doesn’t have to come at a premium.

The AASHE Campus Sustainability Discussion Forums are here!

If you have an interest in joining in on interactive campus sustainability discussions, you will want to visit and participate in the forums. The forums provide a central place where those interested in campus sustainability can ask and answer questions, share knowledge and expertise, and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on campus sustainability.