Denison University has reduced its carbon footprint and achieved a 10 percent reduction of energy usage, resulting in both a cost savings for the school and an environmental coup. A member of the American Electric Power (AEP) Continuous Energy Improvement program, which assists Ohio industrial entities in reducing electric usage, the college shot past its goal of 3 percent and generated a savings of 2,000,000 kilowatts. This is the highest reduction of any participant in the current program. In recognition of this achievement, AEP will present Denison with a rebate check of $40,000.
Hewing to a commitment to sustainability and “going green,” Denison has reduced its energy use while adding square footage and renovating buildings, including several with energy-consuming air conditioning and ventilation systems.
“Energy consumption is down by 25 percent since 2008,” said Art Chonko, Denison’s director of facility services since 1996. “This is a considerable achievement for a campus that has added new facilities and buildings; especially ones that are open to students and faculty around the clock and throughout the year, limiting our options to ‘turn down’ systems for extended time periods.”
“Much of our energy savings is coming from better control of HVAC systems and implementation of occupancy sensors to control lighting and HVAC,” said Bob Jude, the college’s energy and project specialist. “These sensors automatically turn off the lights and reduce the heating and air conditioning in unoccupied rooms.”
In addition, Denison’s HVAC technicians have helped in reducing fan and pump energy by focusing on preventative maintenance. Other energy-saving initiatives include the installation of energy efficient lighting, low-flow showerheads and faucets, along with low-flush toilets.
“Globally, the strategy for saving energy is quite simple – turn it off when not needed. The tougher part is to determine what is actually needed and when,” said Jude, whose background is in the construction and mechanical trades. Prior to coming to Denison, he operated a heating, air conditioning and plumbing business for 25 years. He credits his HVAC background with helping him to identify energy saving opportunities at Denison.
Students, staff and faculty have been helpful by identifying opportunities to save energy on campus. Jude and his staff explore these opportunities to define project possibilities, calculate savings, secure funding and implement the project.
For example, environmental studies student Gabby Vecchio ’16 worked with the library staff to implement the installation of approximately 500 timers to control the lights in the book storage area of the library. Jude estimates that this project saves the school $20,000 a year.
In 2011, Denison created the Green Hill Revolving Loan Fund, a pledge to set aside three million dollars to pay for energy efficient projects. In 2015, Denison earned a “Best of Green Revolving Investment Tracking System (GRITS)” award for Most Carbon Emissions Saved to Date from the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI).
“The ‘Best of GRITS’ awards recognize some of the great work that is being done in the field,” said Mark Orlowski, SEI’s executive director and founder. “We’re excited about the performance of these projects and hope that other institutions can look to this work as strong examples of how an institution can cut their greenhouse gas emissions while cutting costs.”
Moving forward, the college will continue to explore and investigate ways to reduce energy consumption. Jude offers some advice for those who want to help, “Turn off lights and devices that aren’t needed; unplug chargers, game stations and refrigerators that aren’t needed; and report leaking water faucets and showers. These small actions can make a big difference in reducing wasted and energy and water on campus.”