Public universities in Michigan are cutting costs and saving the environment by conserving energy and promoting sustainability.

Terry Link, Director of Campus Sustainability at Michigan State University, said that MSU conserves energy by co-generating its own power, doubling the efficiency of a traditional power plant.

Last year, the University Committee for a Sustainable Campus (UCSC), which promotes sustainability at MSU, initiated placing yellow light bulb stickers on light switches, reminding people to turn off the lights when they leave a room, said Link. UCSC also sponsored an energy awareness week from March 18-21, featuring speakers who talked about energy issues, alternative fuel vehicles and an energy fair.

MSU is planning a variety of energy saving projects, including photovoltaic cells that transform solar energy into electricity. The technology will be used on roof shingles near the MSU pavilion to provide electricity for a building and demonstrate how this technology works. "This will be an education piece so people will become more aware," said Link.

The lighting in MSU's main library is being redone to provide more light while using less energy, said Link. Lights on campus will soon be motion and light sensored to reduce wasted energy.

"MSU has recently begun to do a greenhouse gas inventory to better understand and monitor our impacts with an eye towards reducing those impacts," Link observed.

MSU residence halls will provide more local and organic food to dormitory residents, said Link. Educational programs will teach students about the environmental benefits of organic foods.

The MSU Office of Campus Sustainability is seeking money to review its building standards in order to make MSU buildings greener. "The current standards are being compared to standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, and have been used in Canada and the United States. The standards use ratings based on a point scale. The more points, the higher the ratings-from bronze to silver, gold and platinum," said Link.

The effectiveness of energy reduction efforts at MSU has been boosted by economics, said Link. There were building assessments before, but more resources are being used by the university administration to conserve energy in order to cut costs.

The Office of Campus Sustainability is funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the three-year grant expires in September 2003. The Office of Campus Sustainability is writing a campus sustainability report that will look at MSU over ten years and examine how the university is changing.

"We are compiling data and putting it into graphs. We hope to have it done in the fall," said Link.

Western, Central moving toward energy efficiency

Carl Newton, Energy Reduction Manager at Western Michigan University, said the school's power plant has been upgraded for efficiency by installing turbine generators that burn gas, not coal. The use of natural gas meets EPA requirements, and the plant also uses co-generation in which steam is generated at the same time for heating, cooking and cooling, said Newton.

"At night the power plant has the ability to produce more electricity than can be used on campus. The excess energy cannot be sold on the open market, but Western may get credit for sending its excess power to offsite campuses in the future," said Newton.

The university has installed direct digital control (DDC) on the heating, cooling and air conditioning. This is a more accurate system. "A Variable Air Volume box (VAV) controls the air flow to a given space. When the space is unoccupied, the VAV closes off the heat and cooling to a minimum flow or turns it off when a building is not being used."

When the airflow is reduced, the fan that supplies the air slows down, reducing the horsepower applied to the fan and the amount of electricity consumed. A signal is then sent to the cooling and heating pumps to slow down and reduce consumption. This matches supply with demand because if a building is empty, it does not need to be heated or cooled at the same level as an occupied building.

"WMU has a Temperature Setpoint Policy in place that limits the maximum heating level to 70 degrees for the heating season, and 76 degrees for cooling. This has created a big savings," said Newton. Science laboratories are allowed different temperatures if their equipment requires it.

The Lawson Ice Arena/Gabel Natatorium building uses heat recovery by taking the heat out of the ice and using it to heat the swimming pool, said Newton. There have also been upgrades in fluorescent lighting to gain ballast efficiency. A ballast is a transformer that makes fluorescent lighting work.

Occupancy sensors have been installed in many buildings on campus so that when a room is not being used, the lights turn off. The lights turn on when people enter the room and turn off ten minutes after they leave.

"Daylight-harvesting sensors dim or turn off the lights during the day to make use of available light," said Newton.

The lighting in the Student Recreation Center is being changed from metal halide light fixtures to compact fluorescent light fixtures which are more energy efficient, said Newton. One of the racquetball courts' lighting has already been converted; it used to consume 280 watts...that's been reduced to 203 watts.

"WMU is also working towards making new buildings green and implementing LEED standards in new construction and remodeling," said Newton.

Project Manager for Central Michigan University Thomas A. Zajac said "the rising cost of energy has made energy a significant budgetary item, and energy conservation has provided the university with large savings to the total budget."

Central has received energy grants from the State of Michigan, and these have worked well to provide matching funds for defined energy conservation measures, said Zajac. "The university has funded additional large and small projects, from installing an electric cogeneration unit to reballasting fluorescent lamps."

Central has started using its Wood Boiler again, which uses locally-grown whole tree wood chips. "The wood fuel is less costly than the natural gas or oil it replaces, creates more jobs for local people and companies and uses a renewable resource," said Zajac.

In order for more attention to be paid to energy conservation, Central has hired a new Director of Energy and Utilities. Central has gotten students involved with its sustainability efforts by hiring one or two students in facilities management as recycling workers to publicize and encourage recycling.

"Students have been encouraged to close windows and blinds and shut off all lights when possible, especially at school breaks," Zajac said.