Washington State reduces energy usage

Halfway into a 10-year state mandate to drop energy consumption by 20 percent, Washington State Community College has passed the 12 percent mark, with more efforts still to be made.

"We're actually projected to save 32 percent if we do everything that's recommended," said Byron Hoffee, director of plant operations for the college. "To do everything would be a lot of money but these are good things we're doing. If all colleges and universities would do this, it would make a big difference."

Aside from a reduction of its carbon footprint, Washington State will see longterm cost savings from its energy reduction plan, though they require an initial investment.

Once the project is complete, the savings are expected to make up for the expenses in just 8.56 years, according to a recent report a consultant did for the college.

"After that everything is complete savings," said Rick Peoples, vice president and treasurer of Washington State Community College.

If all recommended actions are taken, the total project cost would be about $632,850, with an annual project savings of $73,939.

Meeting the state standards means measuring energy consumption from 2004 until 2014-the target date to have dropped by 20 percent-but the college began taking some steps years before that, Peoples said.

"We've been on the right track and were forward thinking before we had to be," he said. "Not every college and university is as far along as we are."

To get in that position, Washington State has begun retrofitting lights with more efficient fluorescent bulbs, disabling exhaust fans during unoccupied hours, having automatic shut-downs on their 741 campus computers, placing sunscreens on windows, having in place an extensive recycling program that include batteries and computers and shifting to an automated temperature control system.

"We actually look at a class schedule and determine when a room is going to be used and from a computer on campus we can turn the air conditioning on 15 minutes before class starts," said Peoples. "That's had the biggest impact."

When the lighting changes are complete, that will account for the biggest cost and biggest savings from the overall project.

The total lighting cost is estimated at $188,300 with an annual savings of $33,920, meaning the changes would pay for themselves in five-and-a-half years.

"We're doing that a little bit at a time," Hoffee said about the lights. "When the lights go bad or are in need of repairs we replace them with the new ones. It will take a while to completely finish."

Further steps recommended for the campus include metering on individual buildings so they can be compared, putting in new, energy-efficient boilers and placing load-managing devices on vending machines that would turn off the display lights in off-hours and slightly increase the temperature.

Peoples said each and every step may not be taken.

"For something like the devices on the vending machines, the payback is little although there's little investment," he said. "And metering each building separately-I don't know if there's much savings there."

Along with the environmental and financial impacts, there's a lesson in what Washington State, and state agencies across Ohio, are being asked to do, Peoples said.

"The young people we have coming in are learning to recycle and turn off lights and do all these things from elementary school on these days," he said. "They're well aware of the need to conserve and recycle and we can show them that we're a very efficient college."