Energy Saving Ideas
Phil Cotharin, temperature controls mechanic/energy management specialist, advises Wesleyan students and employees to save energy where they can.
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We’ve Done It

Projects from 05-06

172 suggestions were received during Spring Semester, 2006.  Many of the suggestions were similar to others, some were too vague and some were duplicates.  The status of 81 different suggestions is listed below.  Listed below are suggestions that have been implemented.  Thanks for your contributions and suggestions; keep them coming!

 

Idea

Status
2 Install door seals on the Downey House lounge patio doors.   Weather stripping has been installed
6 Provide more duplex printing capacity in computer labs, especially in Olin and Science Library.  Make sure instructions on how to print 2-sided are prominently displayed and accessible. Duplex printing capability has been added to the Science Tower computer lab.
8

Replace shower head in Freeman Athletic Center with low-flow shower heads.

The Freeman shower heads have been checked and they all meet low flow standards of 2.5 GPM
18 Install additional insulation in Butterfield B where there is no heated space under the rooms.  The temperature in rooms varies considerably and this might even out the temperatures.

A testing and balancing agency was brought in to troubleshoot heating system problems. System operation problems were identified and repaired. Within the last 2 months, improvements to the heating system at Butterfield have been performed which were intended to address the problem of overheating.  As the work involved fundamental changes to the systems original design, it is still too early to determine how successful the changes are at reducing overheating, but initial indications are positive.
19 Provide recycling bins for glass bottles in dorms Recycling bins for glass, plastic and metal are in all the residence halls.  Recycling bins have been place close to trash cans for more effective recycling.
20 Provide access to electronic pay statements for students who have direct deposit of their pay checks (and don't print paper copies). A link to Wesleyan's electronic pay statements (iPAY) has been added to the student portfolio under the Financial Information and Financial Aid menus.  iPAY allows you to get your pay statements electronically if you also have Direct Deposit.  You must send an e-mail to Payroll@wesleyan.edu to request that your paper pay statement be stopped.
24 Encourage all employees to stop receiving paper payroll statements with their pay checks by making the electronic pay statement the default.  Those who wanted a paper statement would have to request it. The Payroll Office has modified some of their forms to facilitate enrolling in the iPAY electronic pay statements.  A link in the Employee Portfolio has complete information on how to sign up.  An e-mail to the Payroll Office is used to notify them to stop your paper pay statements.
25 Turn off all lights in wood frame houses during breaks.  Many lights are left on during that time. Physical Plant has established an Adopt-a-House program for all the wood frame houses.  Part of this program will be to provide residents of a house with detailed information and checklists for maintaining their house.  Residents will be asked to be responsible for the economical use of lighting.
33 Reduce the number of color postcards used by CFA by making more use of e-mails The CFA will reduce the number of color postcards distributed on campus to no more than one per month.  In addition, they will explore increased use of e-mails to targeted groups.  The suggestion to create a web page that allowed people to opt-out of receiving postcards was actively explored but deemed to be too complex to implement for the expected savings.
40 Post signs in Senior wood frames houses for what the normal thermostat setting should be to prevent over-heating. Physical Plant is implementing an Adopt-a-House program for the 2006-07 Academic Year that will match a Physical Plant employee with each wood frame house.  The staff will provide information and instructions to residents on how to use the utilities in the house for the maximum efficiency.  A notebook will include information on thermostat settings.
43 Allow staff more flexibility to take un-paid leave (beyond the normal vacation allotment) without compromising benefits.  A Vacation Purchase program has been launched for administrative staff.  Staff can purchase up to 5 additional days of vacation time.  Staff can sign up for this option through May 19.  For a full description, click here
50 Setup a program to compost some or all of the food waste from the dining halls. The compost could be used at the organic garden on the Long Lane property. A program for the 2006-07 year has been set up that will take food waste from Summerfields for composting at the farm on Long Lane.
51 Review Wesleyan's costs for the phone system, especially long distance charges Our phone system contract was renegotiated in April 2006.  The savings will be about $90,000 per year in 2006/07 including savings in:
  • Infrastructure contract
  • Voice mail contract
  • Telephone billing contract
  • Wiring contract
56 Provide an opportunity for departments or individuals to know about office supplies or furniture that is no longer needed. This will allow the items to be re-used by someone else and might save the need to purchase something. In April 2006, Physical Plant held an open house at their office furniture storage facility for any office or individual to claim available furniture.  In the future, Physical Plant will not store unused furniture.  Offices may use the Classified section of the Employee Portfolio to advertise furniture and equipment that is available.
70 Turn off the TVs at night in the fitness center. Also, the TVs facing the free weights cannot be used because of the nature of the exercising. These TVs aren't needed. The televisions are on an automatic timing device that turns them off at closing o of the FItness Center that will be 9:00, 10:00 or 12:00 pm depending on the day of the week in 2006-07..  Also, a number of the TV's facing the free weight area will be repositioned to accommodate users in other areas of the fitness center.
71 Reduce the number of Wesleyan Magazines printed and provide just a few copies for each department rather than one per person. A meeting was held to discuss ways to reduce printing costs for the Magazine.  Distribution of the Magazine  is seen as an important way inform faculty and staff about campus achievements and personal accomplishments.  However, we found that faculty and staff that have enrolled in courses at Wesleyan (including GLSP) are receiving the Magazine at home and at work.  People receiving double distribution will be identified so just one copy is distributed. 
73 Create standard templates of frequently printed documents (business cards, invitations, etc) and put them on the web so that departments can order directly from the web. We already use this approach for letterhead and business cards. We like to see templates used when possible and will continue to develop them in appropriate situations.
75, 54 Provide drop-off boxes for un-wanted clothes, books, furniture and other items from student dorm rooms. People who what these items could pick them up and re-use them. This would eliminate trash and the staff necessary to collect it all.

Create a central book repository for unwanted books. After collection they could be recycled, re-sold locally or on a web site (like Half.com).

 Freecycling and a furniture tag sale were organized for the end of Spring semester, 2006.  Large containers were placed in 10 locations around campus for the deposit of books, clothes, furniture and small appliances and electronics.  The items were free for pick up by anyone who wanted them.  Articles left after the Freecycling period were thrown away.  This program not only helped useable items to be recycled, it saved significant money by reducing the amount of trash left in dorm rooms that did not need to be collected.
77 Post signs at light switches reminding people to turn off lights when not in use. Physical Plant has reviewed this idea.  Stickers placed near or on switch plates can help remind people to turn out the lights.  However, this is a labor cost for applying the stickers to all lights.  Over time, the stickers become soiled and peel.  To completely remove them for annual painting is also costly for both the labor and supplies necessary for removal.  To encourage energy savings in residence halls, a Project $AVE Tip Card is being distributed to students that lists 10 energy saving ideas (including turning off the lights when you leave your room).
79 Always put recycling containers next to trash containers to encourage recyclable items to be separated from trash. Additional recycling containers have been added to almost all locations where there is a regular trash can.  To see a full list of locations for special recycling go to: http://www.wesleyan.edu/recycling/
81 Consolidate purchasing of a particular product by choosing one vendor and negotiating a contract for the entire campus.  Some examples might be bottled water, coffee, copiers, maintenance supplies, etc. Over the summer the Purchasing Office consolidated the purchase of bottled water through Crystal Rock for a savings of approximately $xxxxx.  A new contract for copies was also negotiated with Ikon.  Estimated savings is $300,000 over four years.

 

We’re Working On It

Listed below are suggestions that have been assigned to a person or office to plan a solution.  Thanks for your contributions and suggestions; keep them coming!

 

Idea

Effort Underway
3 Install automatic door closer for Judd Hall front door.  Carpentry shop is evaluating
5 Replace bulbs over entrance stairs and foyer of Exley SC58 with compact fluorescent bulbs. Electrical shop is evaluating
9
Replace the controls for the steam rooms in Freeman Athletic Center with one that has a maximum 30 minute "on" cycle.
Plumbing shop is evaluating
34 Turn off or hibernate computers in labs when they are not in use, especially late at night. While Flat Panels Monitor have greatly reduced energy consumption, we can do better. We are going to analyze lab hours, imaging times and configurations to determine how we can save even more energy. We plan to put some of these changes into effect by late April.
57 Look into creating the faculty/staff directory on-line instead of printing. Or, print a directory with less information (such as name, phone, title and department) that would use less paper. A team from ITS, HR and Academic Affairs is looking into options for reducing the size or eliminating a paper faculty/staff directory.
30 Install double-door system for exit door at Summerfields.  Current exit door lets in cold air drafts This suggestion will be proposed as a maintenance project for the next Major Maintenance budget.
63 Turn off desktop machines in computer labs late at night when there is low usage. They can always be turned on if someone comes in. While Flat Panels Monitor have greatly reduced energy consumption, we can do better. We are going to analyze lab hours, imaging times and configurations to determine how we can save even more energy. We plan to put some of these changes into effect before the start of next semester (Fall '06).
65 Review the frequency with which desktop machines are replaced. It seems that they are replaced very frequently when many machines are still good. This summer (2006) we will be analyzing our replacement patterns for labs. We will analyze both the replacement cycle and the level of machine that we buy for the the labs. Once we complete the analysis, we will make a recommendation.
48 Create online course evaluations within the Student Portfolio. This might produce more thoughtful responses by students and would be easier to tabulate. Student grades could be withheld until a course evaluation was completed. A pilot project is underway that will allow course evaluations to be completed online at the end of Fall semester, 2006.  The pilot will be for a small group of faculty.
60 Create a page in employee portfolio that would allow faculty and staff to opt out of paper mailings that are sent by offices. A committee has been formed to investigate using a web page to allow faculty and staff to select the kind of paper mailings they would like to receive.  The committee includes representation from CFA, University Communications, ITS and Finance and Administration.
78 Install hot air hand dryers in all public restrooms rather than providing paper towels. Would save on the cost of pap Installing hot air hand dryers will be proposed as a maintenance project for the next Major Maintenance budget cycle.
80 Engineer and implement cogeneration technology at the university. A cogeneration plant installed within our existing central power plant will self generate electricity and utilize waste heat from the engine generator to produce steam and hot water for other uses on campus.  A cogeneration engine is being planned for installation in 2007.  This facility will use natural gas to generate electricity, steam heat and hot water.  A complete financial study of this proposal estimates savings of up to $500,000 per year.

 

We’ve Got an Answer

Listed below are answers and comments about suggestions that already have existing solutions.  Thanks for your contributions and suggestions; keep them coming!

1 Idea Remove window air conditioners from Judd Hall in the winter to reduce drafts and cold air leaks.
  Answer

From Physical Plant:  There are approximately 300 window mounted air conditioning units on campus.  Removing and reinstalling each would be a very formidable undertaking requiring staff resources that are already strained doing other tasks.  Furthermore, there is no place to store the equipment during the period it is not in use.

The current approach to this situation is to incorporate central A/C systems into buildings with window mounted units when those buildings are renovated.
4 Idea Maintain only active employees in the Meeting Maker list.  Employees that have left should be removed so that the license fee can be kept to a minimum.
  Answer Because of the deep saturation of MM usage, we have changed to a site license. The site license allows us unlimited usage. We do try to stay on top of the defunct accounts to make the tool more user friendly. If you know of any defunct accounts please email operations@wesleyan.edu .
7, 11, 13 Idea Install more motion sensor light switches, especially in academic and administration buildings where there is light use at night and on weekends.
  Answer From Physical Plant:  Projects to install motion sensors have been underway for 3 years and will continue as funding is made available.  Motion sensors to control lighting in all spaces have been installed in Fisk, PAC, Judd, North College, areas of the Science Center, CFA buildings F, G, H, R, Freeman, and other buildings.  Motion Sensors are installed in specific areas of the new dorms on Fauver Field.

Work Orders to replace defective/damaged sensors in the Science Center restrooms have been placed.
10 Idea Make greater use of compact florescent bulbs throughout campus.
  Answer Compact florescent bulbs are used extensively throughout the campus.  Whenever bulbs need replacement the first option is always compact bulbs.  In some cases, where the fixture may need to be replaced to make the best use of compact florescent bulbs, the replacement is scheduled for the next major maintenance of the facility.  For Fall, 2006, Broad Street Books will begin to sell compact florescent bulbs for students to purchase for their own lamps.
12 Idea Install separate thermostats in dormitory rooms so that the residents of a room have greater control over the temperature in the room.
  Answer Mechanical systems in some buildings, older dorms in particular, do not support individual thermostats as the heat distribution system is not designed in that way.  Converting these systems is reviewed when buildings are renovated.
14 Idea Lower the water pressure for showers in dorms and the Freeman Center. 
  Answer Water pressure is maintained at pre-established values to ensure proper operation of toilets and other fixtures and to ensure adequate flow to all locations in a particular building independent of the number of fixtures operated at any one time and location in the building. Physical plant is installing restricted flow shower heads in a programmed manner within scope of renovation projects as they occur. 
15 Idea Install movement sensitive water faucets in bathrooms to save on water.
  Answer Motion sensor water fixtures are considered as renovation projects occur, however they are subject to potential leakage as internal parts wear. 
16 Idea Don't use the air conditioning in the new Fauver Field dorms.
  Answer The Fauver Field dorms were designed so that they could be used year around and thus have air conditioning.  The residence hall staff can provide guidance on the most effective settings for the air conditioning.
22 Idea Install motion sensitive light switches in the Olin Library stacks
  Answer
Controlling library stack lighting does not appear to be practical due to
the number of motion sensors that would be needed between the narrow stacks
and effective placement so that lights would not turn off when students at
times apparently choose to sit on the floor between stacks while reading
materials.
23 Idea The temperatures in Downey House are too hot.  Reduce the temperatures to save on heating costs
  Answer Physical Plant is troubleshooting problems with the system. Repairs to the heating and cooling units are in progress.
24 Idea Encourage all employees to stop receiving paper payroll statements with their pay checks by making the electronic pay statement the default.  Those who wanted a paper statement would have to request it.
  Answer This is a great idea.  Wesleyan established access to electronic pay statements through ADP (the company that prints our payroll checks) several years ago.  The web site, called "iPay", provides electronic pay statements and W-2 tax forms.  Employees (including student employees) that sign-up for iPay can request the cancellation of their printed pay statement.  However, Connecticut banking laws require that we always give the option for a printed pay statement.
2266 Idea Install dual flush toilets on campus
  Answer
Toilet fixtures specified in renovations and new construction meet latest
requirements for water conservation.
28 Idea Install light switches for all lights in wood frame houses (some lights are on 24/7 and have no switches to turn them off).
  Answer We concur in principle, but the lights of concern may need to be on continuously for emergency egress purposes.  A work order can be submitted and physical plant will review each location individually to see if modifications can be made.
29 Idea Nicholson bathrooms have leaking faucets that need repair.  Also, low-flow shower heads and motion sensitive light switches would save energy
  Answer Physical Plant makes periodic rounds to identify leaking faucets and makes repairs as identified. Students are encouraged to call our customer service extension 3400 to identify any leaking fixtures as they identify them.
31 Idea Reduce heat and turn off lights in wood frame houses over breaks when they are not occupied
  Answer Students are encouraged to turn thermostats down when they leave for winter break. However, minimum levels of heat must be kept on to prevent freezing of pipes. Electricity must remain on to power the furnaces and security lights. 
32 Idea
Insulate the wood frame houses with blown-in celluose insullation
  Answer Wood Frames are insulated when they are renovated as part of Major Maintenance.  Also, an evaluation to determine which wood frames consume the greatest amount of energy is on-going, with specific measures to reduce consumption identified and funding requested.
33 Idea Reduce the number of color postcards used by CFA by making more use of e-mails
  Answer We think this is an excellent suggestion, and in fact the Center for the Arts has steadily reduced its use of paper announcements over the past several years and increased its use of e-marketing to conserve resources. At the same time, we find that e-mail and mail delivery are not yet interchangeable. Including our audiences outside the University community, 44.5% still say, when asked, that they decided to attend an event after seeing a printed card, flyer or brochure.
35 Idea The University is planning on buying furniture for the wood frame houses. This seems to cost more money than it saves.
  Answer Furnishing the wood frame houses actually saves the university money by reduced wear and tear on the house as furniture is moved in and out each year, reduced expenses for tagging furniture and removing furniture left behind.  Detailed input was sought only from the current senior class because they have experienced what it was like to purchase and move in furniture, and they were overwhelmingly in support of the proposal. The rest of the students had the opportunity to comment on the proposal when they were surveyed about the beds, and many of them did so.  The seniors reported spending an average of $581 on furniture, which means having the university provide the furniture, which can be done for hundreds less, also saves the students money.  Although the university provided furniture must remain in the house, students are welcome to supplement the furniture with their own.
36 Idea The windows on the first floor of Olin Library need additional insulation or caulking.  Consider installing double-pane windows
  Answer Replacement of windows at Olin Hall has been proposed as part of the Major Maintenance program and will be implemented as priorities and funding permit. 
39 Idea There seem to be duplicate card readers for the Fauver Field frosh dorm. One to enter the foyer and the other to enter the building. One should be removed.
  Answer Two set of card readers were installed so that students could cut through the vestibule area on their way to Freeman Athletic Center, but not have access to the interior of the building (all students' cards open the vestibule doors).  At this point the cost savings of moving the readers does not outweigh the added security benefits.  We appreciate the suggestion, but feel we need to allow more time to gauge student behavior and traffic patterns before making adjustments.  Hopefully, residents of Fauver don't mind the few extra seconds it takes to swipe their card twice, since they would need their card handy anyhow for access to the building.
41 Idea Develop an on-line document download service for many Wesleyan documents and publications.  This would reduce printing and postage costs
  Answer Wesleyan already posts the content of its publications online. The Publications Office routinely reviews press runs with clients with an eye toward producing savings whenever possible. In the past few years, we have eliminated print publications when the audience was campus-only; examples include the events calendar and the student handbook. Two university newsletters, the Wesleyan Connection and Wesleyan Extra, were initiated online without print editions.
42 Idea Reduce the weight of the University Catalog when it is printed again so that it falls within a lower cost class of mail.
  Answer The Catalog has a tendency to creep up in size, as more material gets added than is deleted in any given year. Publications will work with client offices, particularly the Registrar, in an effort to reduce the weight and create savings.
44 Idea Replace Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office software on computers with software that has no license fees, such as Linux and Open Office
  Answer This might be a great idea in the future. In fact, Linux is becoming increasingly popular on University servers. However, at this time a conversion from Microsoft Windows/Office would be too disruptive to the University and faculty and staff home machines. In addition, with our current licencing agreements it would not save students or the institution significant money.
45 Idea Phase out CRT monitors for personal computers and replace with LCD monitors. LCD monitors use less than half the amount of electricity. Review total energy consumption of desktop machines when they are replaced
  Answer All new machines being sold out of the Wesleyan Computer stores come with Flat LCD monitors. In addition, we have replaced the monitors on many existing machines. 
46 Idea
Convert campus diesel vehicles (including the RIDE vans and Physical Plant vehicles) to run on vegetable oil.  Vegetable oil is an inexpensive source of fuel and would reduce the use of gasoline.
  Answer There are very few if any diesel vehicles operated by campus departments at this time to my knowledge. Conversion to vegetable oil engines can only be done on diesel engine vehicles.  Physical Plant will be considering use of "clean' diesel vehicles as part of a 5 year replacement plan. 
47 Idea Review all outdoor campus lighting to make sure the on/off cycle corresponds to sunset/sunrise times.
  Answer All new street and sidewalk lighting installed on campus is connected to the Energy Management System.  This system includes a sophisticated program that automatically adjusts on/off schedules based on actual sunrise/sunset.  As funding becomes available, older lighting controls are replaced with this system.
49 Idea Adjust standard thermostat setting across campus to be higher in summer and lower in winter.
  Answer Existing campus energy policy already implements this recommendation. This policy is communicated to staff and students periodically. These temperature setpoints are controlled automatically by the Campus Building Automation systems in buildings so equipped. Physical Plant maintains vacant buildings at minimum temperatures during the winter to prevent pipes containing water from freezing. We drain some buildings piping during the winter when it makes economic sense (e.g Boathouse). A minimum level of lighting is left on at night in some vacant buildings as a security feature. Students are reminded to close storm windows periodically during the winter season.
53 Idea Look into alternate sources of sustainable energy for the campus, including sources such as photovoltaic cells or wind power.
  Answer

The Physical Plant has surveyed the campus and determined that 3 locations appeared suitable to support the installation of PV solar systems, (Freeman, the Science Library and the Central Power Plant).  During a more detailed assessment, Freeman was deemed unsuitable due to excessive shading.  The roofs above both the Science Library and the CPP require replacement before being suitable to support a solar system.

 

In general, PV systems are very expensive – approximately $10,000/kW.  Even after considering incentives offered by the Clean Energy Fund, costs approach $5,000/kW.  To be effective, systems need to generate approximately 100 kW which then requires they be installed close to larger campus buildings with electrical loads that can absorb that much electricity. Solar powered recharging will be considered when electric utility vehicles are implemented on campus.

 

Feasibility of wind energy in the Connecticut area has up to this point not been considered feasible due to relatively low wind velocities present much of the year. However, with new technologies that have developed recently and increasing cost of energy the feasibility of wind energy on campus will be reviewed.

64 Idea Eliminate the current phone system and move to VoIP (Voice over Internet). 
  Answer Until we get the end of life notice on the current switch or the cost of VoIP goes down significantly, we do not plan to do anything.  The initial costs do not justify the change to VoIP
66 Idea Replace all future desktop machines with Apple models that can run both Windows and MacIntosh operating systems.
  Answer This is a great idea for a relatively limited number of workspaces that must be both PC and Macs. For workstations that are do not need that versatility the dual boot solution is more expensive.
68 Idea Eliminate the towel attendant in the Athletic Center. The cost of purchasing more towels would seem to be lower that the cost of paying a towel monitor.
  Answer
Student workers are assigned to work at the distribution window from 8 am to 8 pm.  The person at this station is assigned tasks other than washing and exchanging towels. They provide information, distribute PE  and recreation equipment and assign lockers to students. From 8 to 2 pm they are the only person regularly in the  equipment room.  In the late afternoon, ( 2 to 3 pm depending on the season) a full time employee begins a shift in the equipment room.  At times they could hand out towels, however often they are required to leave the room to attend to duties associated with team practices and contests.
The issue of towel distribution is being reviewed and changes in the location and process for returning the towel may occur at times during the day.
72 Idea Stop buying pre-printed Wesleyan letterhead. A letterhead template can be incorporated into electronic documents and printed with the rest of the document.
  Answer There is a significant difference in quality between letterhead that is preprinted and what can be published on a Ricoh machine. Also, shifting costs to a central source--whatever budget pays for toner--may create savings for an office without generating any real savings for the University. Nonetheless, the Publications Office does have a Word template available, which it recommends for internal use.
74 Idea Hold a residence hall energy conservation competition between underclassmen dorms for the span of two weeks to see who can conserve the most energy.
  Answer This was performed with a group of program houses last year, with mixed results.  Undertaking a similar competition within the dorms is difficult as most dorms receive their utilities from central sources which are not metered at the building level.  The absence of building level metering makes measurement of consumption (or changes in consumption) at the building level impossible.
76 Idea Circulate the heat given off by the ITS Leibert machines to adjacent offices and spaces, rather than venting the heat to the outside.
  Answer This has been investigated in the past and the cost to implement exceeds the benefits.

 

We’re Getting to It

Listed below are suggestions that have recently been submitted and are in the evaluation stage to determine the best way to accomplish them.

 

Idea

Status
52 Support the development of the organic garden/farm on the Long Lane property for educational purposes and to supply produce to Dining Services. Referred to Project $AVE Team
55 Increase the use E-Reserve in the library instead of printing costly readers with outside sources. The E-Reserve system is already in place, but could be more heavily used. Referred to Project $AVE Team
58 After catered meals, return unused plastic ware, plastic utensils and napkins to Dining Services instead of throwing away. This would reduce the expense for purchasing these items. Referred to Auxiliary Services
59 Regarding the conveyer toaster on the 1st floor of the campus center: Turn it off after the peak breakfast time or replace it with one that does not need to stay on all the time. Referred to Auxiliary Services
61 Offer a waiver/buy out option (a cash disbursement from the university in place of coverage) to faculty and staff who are eligible for health coverage through their spouse/partners plans. This incentive might increase the number of employees who use their spouse/partner's plans and reduce the cost of health insurance paid by Wesleyan.  Referred to Human Resources
62 Investigate implementing Wake on LAN capabilities. This would allow desktop machines to hibernate at night, but still allow nightly backups. Referred to ITS
67 Reduce the photocopying cost in the library to $.05. Then there would be no excuse for ripping pages from library books. Referred to the Library