51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ President Carol C. Harter will announce May 13 a newly formed partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a voluntary effort to increase energy efficiency on campus while preventing pollution and saving money.
As a Green Lights partner, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ will survey all campus facilities and upgrade the lighting in 90 percent of the square footage that can be upgraded profitably without compromising lighting quality.
The EPA, in turn, will provide a range of support systems to help 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ obtain information on energy-efficient lighting technology, financing options, and public recognition opportunities.
By investing approximately $600,000 into energy-efficient upgrades, the university will save an estimated $300,000 each year in energy costs. These upgrades will also greatly reduce the amount of pollution caused from the generation of this energy.
In April, the State of Nevada became a Green Lights Partner committing 1,800 buildings on state-owned land to participate in the program.
EPA has estimated that 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ could recoup its investment in the project within two years through energy cost savings. The agency also estimates that, through the Green Lights Program, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has the potential to save 739,390 pounds of carbon dioxide; 22,928 pounds of sulfur dioxide; and 23,810 pounds of nitrous oxides from being emitted each year into the environment. The carbon dioxide emission being prevented is equivalent to taking 70 cars off the road each year, planting 143 acres of trees each year, or avoiding the use of 44,812 gallons of gasoline each year, according to Allison Smith of Students for an Energy-Efficient Environment (SEEE). These estimates are based on the square footage of building on campus and the type of existing lighting.
If Green Lights were fully implemented in all facility space in the United States, it would save over 65 million kilowatts of electricity annually, reducing the national electric bill by $16 billion each year. These savings could then be invested in new jobs and enhanced productivity. In addition, Green Lights would result in reductions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides equivalent to 12 percent of the U.S. utility emissions, curbing acid rain and smog and helping to slow the green house effect, Smith said.
SEEE was formed in 1991 by collegiate student leaders to promote the cost-savings and pollution-prevention potential of energy-efficient technologies. During the fall 1995 semester, Smith, a senior in communication theory and environmental studies at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, was one of 30 students chosen from applicants across the country to participate in an internship with SEEE. Following a training session in Washington, D.C., Smith returned to 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ to work with the administration in implementing energy-efficient technologies on campus.
In December, she attended an EPA Lighting Upgrade Workshop. After demonstrating sufficient knowledge of the Green Lights program goals, objectives, and principles; lighting efficiency fundamentals, technologies, and practices; and technical and financial analytical methods and software tools, she became an EPA-recognized Surveyor Ally. Participating in this internship involves attending nationwide training events, meeting with university administration, speaking to student groups to encourage endorsement of the program, completing weekly update forms, and conversing via electronic mail with the coordinators and other interns in order to share success stories and strategies, request assistance, ask and answer questions, and provide support for each other.
SEEE focuses primarily on urging universities to sign on to EPA's Green Lights Program, a voluntary pollution-prevention program. For more information, please call Allison Smith at 895-4163.
