SCSU Places 4th in National Energy Conservation Contest

Fri., May 04

Its school colors may be blue and white, but Southern Connecticut State University has stamped itself as one of the up-and-coming green campuses in the nation.

SCSU placed fourth of 98 schools in the country in reducing its electricity use during the recent Campus Conservation Nationals 2012, a spring competition among colleges and universities to reduce energy consumption. SCSU posted a reduction rate of 20.5 percent during the three-week period from March 26 to April 16. A benchmark usage rate was taken at each school - generally in the weeks before the contest began.

The other top five schools in electrical energy savings were: Bowling Green University, University of Kentucky, Hofstra University and Western Technical College. The competition is coordinated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The energy reduction posted by Southern - equal to 76,251 kilowatt hours - translates to a cost savings of $11,437 for the university. But as one of the top 10 schools in the conservation contest, Southern also will receive a credit for 200 megawatt hours of renewable energy from Sterling Planet, a company that works with organizations toward becoming carbon neutral. The 200 megawatt hours of free energy should be enough to power one of the university's smaller residence halls for about a year.

"This is very exciting for us - both from a sustainability standpoint and in terms of cost savings," said Executive Vice President James E. Blake. "Students applied their natural competitiveness toward achieving an incredibly positive result. Our university has really come a long way in the last five to 10 years in terms of energy conservation and this project exemplifies our efforts."

The money saved from the renewable energy credit will be used to fund future sustainability initiatives on campus, according to Robert Sheeley, associate vice president for capital budgeting and facilities operations.

"Saving energy and preserving the environment have been and continue to be goals of the university and this is an example of what students, faculty and staff can do to accomplish those objectives," Sheeley said. "In particular, our resident students and housing staff, under the leadership of Housing Director Angela Todaro, have done a remarkable job. They all deserve to be congratulated."

North Campus Midrise - the largest residence hall on campus -- recorded the most significant savings of all nine residence halls with a reduction of 28.4 percent. Jenna Retort, director of the North Campus Residence Complex, said several initiatives took place before and during the competition in an effort to save energy.

"In our North Campus office, we engaged in an 'Operating in the Dark' effort in which we kept the lights off as much as possible during that three-week period," Retort said.

She also pointed to a "Caught Green-Handed" program coordinated by students in that residence hall.

Elizabeth Dishian, a student who spearheaded that program, said it entailed an interactive bulletin board that displayed the names of students who were particularly energy conscious during the three-week period. Students who qualified for such recognition also received a free T-shirt or reusable shopping bag.

"It was a lot of fun to see the residents get involved and active in the process of being energy conscious," Dishian said. "And it was a great feeling when we found out that our residence hall had the highest percentage of savings. Many of the students were shocked because most said all they did were the simple things - turning off the lights and the TVs when they left the room. But those small things truly make a big difference."

Josh Kwame Sumrell, a student serving as North Campus senior community advisor, said he participated in a "Discover: Sustainability" program in which he and other community advisors advocated sustainable practices to their peers on campus. "We wanted students to know the advantage of being a sustainable community."

Suzanne Huminski, an instructor of science education and environmental studies who helped coordinate SCSU's participation in the national contest, pointed out that many sustainability initiatives are in progress. "Southern is a very green university with campuswide efforts growing very quickly," she said.

She noted the following programs and projects are examples of sustainability efforts at SCSU in recent years:

*In 2007, SCSU became a charter signatory to the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment, which calls for schools to bolster their conservation efforts in pursuit of eventual carbon neutrality.

• In 2010, Southern began purchasing graduation caps and gowns made from plastic bottles.
• The university adopted a single-stream recycling program last year.
• The university last fall installed solar panels on Brownell Hall, one of the campus residence halls.
• The soon-to-be opened School of Business also will have solar panels.
• The university annually participates in "Recyclemania," a national campus recycling competition.
• A community garden and orchard were created on campus last year.

She noted that next fall, Southern plans to launch a Sustainable Living Learning Community, in which students can opt to live in a residence hall with sustainability as a focus.