2008 Woodie Awards
University looking to save energy
Robert Preliasco
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
11/29/07 - The University of Rhode Island is about to get a lot more environmentally friendly. URI officials are in the process of examining every building on campus in an energy audit to determine how they can be upgraded to save energy.
The university has hired the Massachusetts-based company NORESCO to create a performance contract for the URI campus, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-January.
The contract will show the university what improvements can be made to each building to save energy and money, such as more energy-efficient lighting and heating.
URI Facilities Engineer David Lamb said the improvements pay for themselves because of the savings to the university in the cost of energy.
"The savings that are produced by the conservation measures that we install around campus actually pay for those improvements," Lamb said.
He said students may have already noticed improvements in two areas of campus, the Memorial Union and URI's athletics buildings, including Mackal, Tootell, Keaney and the Ryan Center.
Lamb said all of these buildings now have motion-sensing lights that turn off automatically to save electricity when a room is not occupied. Lamb said aside from being energy efficient, the new lights are brighter than the old ones.
"We've actually improved the environment in the Union with the lighting," he said.
The buildings also have an improved computerized energy management system to ensure they are not heated or air-conditioned during hours when they are not open.
"What you're doing is managing the energy use in the building in a more efficient way," Lamb said about this system.
He added that other improvements have included new, more efficient motors in the buildings' air handlers and thermal windows designed to better retain heat.
Bruce Hamilton, director of the Memorial Union, said the building's new heating system, which can be fine-tuned based on when the building is occupied, makes for more energy efficiency.
"We generally have a much more energy efficient system of controls running the heating and cooling in the building," he said.
Hamilton added that the building's maintenance staff uses green-friendly materials when cleaning the building.
University officials are looking toward improving the campus' environmental impact in more ways than heating and lighting energy. The President's Council for Sustainability, chaired by Vice President of Administration Robert Weygand, is studying the university's carbon footprint.
Lamb said a carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of greenhouse gasses produced by the university.
"Any energy you use has an effect because in order to create that energy you need to burn fossil fuels," he said.
The university has hired the Massachusetts-based company NORESCO to create a performance contract for the URI campus, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-January.
The contract will show the university what improvements can be made to each building to save energy and money, such as more energy-efficient lighting and heating.
URI Facilities Engineer David Lamb said the improvements pay for themselves because of the savings to the university in the cost of energy.
"The savings that are produced by the conservation measures that we install around campus actually pay for those improvements," Lamb said.
He said students may have already noticed improvements in two areas of campus, the Memorial Union and URI's athletics buildings, including Mackal, Tootell, Keaney and the Ryan Center.
Lamb said all of these buildings now have motion-sensing lights that turn off automatically to save electricity when a room is not occupied. Lamb said aside from being energy efficient, the new lights are brighter than the old ones.
"We've actually improved the environment in the Union with the lighting," he said.
The buildings also have an improved computerized energy management system to ensure they are not heated or air-conditioned during hours when they are not open.
"What you're doing is managing the energy use in the building in a more efficient way," Lamb said about this system.
He added that other improvements have included new, more efficient motors in the buildings' air handlers and thermal windows designed to better retain heat.
Bruce Hamilton, director of the Memorial Union, said the building's new heating system, which can be fine-tuned based on when the building is occupied, makes for more energy efficiency.
"We generally have a much more energy efficient system of controls running the heating and cooling in the building," he said.
Hamilton added that the building's maintenance staff uses green-friendly materials when cleaning the building.
University officials are looking toward improving the campus' environmental impact in more ways than heating and lighting energy. The President's Council for Sustainability, chaired by Vice President of Administration Robert Weygand, is studying the university's carbon footprint.
Lamb said a carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of greenhouse gasses produced by the university.
"Any energy you use has an effect because in order to create that energy you need to burn fossil fuels," he said.