Hey Bearcats!
The Baruch College Task Force on Sustainability and Vice President Katharine Cobb’s Campus Facilities and Building and Grounds staff have been diligently working to make our campus more environmentally friendly as well as more sustainable. Some projects that we have been working on are: the installation of energy efficient computer switches; upcoming capital project to maximize the efficiency of our chillers on the North Campus; LED lighting throughout the Vertical Campus and Administration Building with plans to expand; transition away from desktop printers to multi-purpose networked printers; and the repair and replacement of room motion sensors to control lighting.
With that in mind, this summer has been a warm one so far, and with sweltering heat comes a rise in the use of air conditioners at Baruch College to keep students, faculty and staff comfortable. While it is important to maintain an enjoyable learning environment, we all must recognize the need to turn off lights and raise room temperatures when rooms are unoccupied for a prolonged period.
The Baruch College Task Force on Sustainability is here to provide you with a few tips and tricks that we can all do while at school and even at home to reduce our carbon footprint and achieve significant energy savings:
- If a classroom, office or conference room is not occupied, make sure that lights and A/C units are turned off.
- Turn off all lights, computers, printers, fax machines, copiers and A/C units at the end of the day.
- Report malfunctioning motion sensors to Buildings and Grounds by submitting a work order.
- Pull down window shades to cool the room during the day and keep them down when you leave the office
- Do not open windows.
- Keep the doors to departments closed to prevent cool air from escaping into the corridors.
- Maintain temperature set point of 72 degrees or above in window units.
- Reduce personal electronic items in your office like refrigerators and microwaves and use departmental pantries.
- Use stairs instead of elevators and escalators when possible.
- Share ideas with colleagues and with us—we would like to hear from you. Please send your ideas to Matthew LePere ([email protected]) or Katharine Cobb ([email protected])
Check out our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/BaruchSustainability
