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UM lauded for energy- saving work

Efficiency Maine awards $50,000 as incentive

By Emily Southwick

Posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007, 12:00 am

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LIGHT THE LAMP - New energy efficient lighting at Alfond Arena is part of a series of upgrades projected to save UMaine $71,000 per year.

Last Friday, Efficiency Maine awarded the university $50,000 as an incentive for its recent energy-saving measures, and another check for more than $8,000 is on the way.

Everywhere across the University of Maine campus, efforts are being made to reduce energy use and cut costs. Combined, the programs and upgrades are projected to save the school $71,000 annually. Lighting renovations, currently one of the biggest projects, have been completed in 14 buildings across campus, including Alumni Hall, the Alfond Arena and some residence halls.

Efficiency Maine, part of Maine’s Public Utilities Commission, awards money to businesses in the state who implement energy-saving measures in order to offset the costs.

Janet Waldron, vice president for Administration and Financing, is in charge of the residence halls and dining commons facilities and has worked with Efficiency Maine to replace 1,578 light bulbs with new compact fluorescent light bulbs so far. While CFLs are more expensive than regular incandescent light bulbs, they last at least four times longer and use much less power. A CFL using about 12 watts can produce as much light as a 60 watt incandescent bulb. CFLs are also better for the environment because they emit fewer greenhouse gases than other energy sources.

“I see it as a real win-win [situation],” Waldron said about the projects. “We have a responsibility to the environment, and the university can be a model [to other universities] in those areas.”

She hopes that model will set a precedent for other schools, and that it will integrate not only professionals, but also undergraduate and graduate students. “I think it can provide an excellent learning experience,” Waldron said.

Leigh Stearns is one of those graduate students, and is studying glaciers in the Climate Change Institute. Stearns said she was “frustrated at the lack of national policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” and in response, formed the University of Maine Sustainability Alliance with fellow graduate student Susan Kaspari. They have tracked the university’s environmental “footprint” for the past 16 years and found that campus emissions and electricity use have skyrocketed over that time period.

Stearns believes that the university, as the largest in the University of Maine System, must lead the way in changing these trends. But she also wants to emphasize that individuals can make a difference too. “Global climate change is a huge issue, and it’s easy to feel that there’s nothing that one individual can do to improve it. In reality, we can all cut down on our energy consumption by a little bit, and we can all make smarter choices as consumers. Add all these individual efforts together and it has an impact.”

Stewart Harvey is a mechanical engineer in Facilities Management and is responsible for running the energy-related projects on campus. “Energy costs are a large part of our campus expense,” Harvey said. “Reducing energy costs will help, and also reduce CO2 emissions to the environment.”

Another step the university is taking is to make as many buildings as possible become “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” or LEED, certified. These buildings include “green” features such as carefully placed windows to maximize natural sunlight, reduced water consumption, solar heating, reused building materials and locally purchased supplies. Buildings that are currently LEED certified are the Advanced Engineering Wood Composites Center (AEWC) and the Student Innovation Center.

Once they open for the next academic year, Wells Commons and the new Student Recreation and Fitness Center will also qualify as “green” buildings.

One of the many other projects some students will be familiar with is the partnership with Efficiency Maine that installed new heating controls and electrical timers for the lights with motion sensors in the dorms.

“It’s a good idea, if you can save energy,” said first-year civil engineering major Devan Eaton, who lives in Somerset Hall.

Unlike the upperclassmen before him, Eaton does not remember Somerset in its pre-motion sensor days, before the lights went off if a student sat still in his or her room for more than a few minutes. “They’re handy,” he said, “but they’re a nuisance.”

Troubles aside, Eaton agrees with what the university is doing to curb energy consumption and costs.

“I try to turn off lights when I leave the room,” he said about his personal energy saving habits. “I turn off my computer, or at least put it on hibernate [and] turn off the TV to conserve energy.”