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The GreenWise Bulletin
A sustainability newsletter for Northern Arizona University -- April 2006
Energy and Computers: Are you computing efficiently?
Come Respect Your Mama for SEC Earth Day 2006
What is your ecological footprint?
Energy, NAU and You
Take a moment and consider all the ways you exploit energy sources while you are on campus. The food you eat provides energy for your body. But what about use external to your body? Of course much of that food is heated or cooled using external energy sources. Do you drive from north to south campus between classes? Or do you take the bus? If you walk or bike, then you are using your internal energy, but if you use a motorized vehicle, then there is some type of external energy source. If you were to ride your horse, then you’d be using biomass as your transportation energy source, but I have yet to see a horse on the NAU campus.
How else do we use energy sources in our daily life at NAU? Most of us use various computers throughout the day. Below, is an important article concerning reducing energy use when using computers. Since that resource exists, there is no need to restate the strategies.
This Center for Sustainable Environments (CSE) website also has a very useful guide book for the types of green practices that can be enacted at both your home and on campus. So read it and come back to this article:
(http://www.environment.nau.edu/CampusSustainability/GreenPracticeGuide.pdf)
In the 2003-04 fiscal year NAU spent almost $3 million on electricity and almost $2.5 million on natural gas. Not including the fuel used in the campus buses and other university vehicles, the total energy bill amounted to a little over $400 per student. Since 2004, natural gas prices have skyrocketed and are likely to stay high for the foreseeable future. Additionally, since the newer electricity generating plants are mostly fueled with natural gas, electricity prices are expected to increase this year and into the future.
Let’s do some quick and simple math. NAU consumed 51,201,433 kilowatt hours of electricity in 03-04. Presuming all that electricity was produced burning coal, this translates into almost 77 million pounds of carbon dioxide or CO2. That is over 38,000 tons of CO2 or slightly more than 3 tons per student on the Mountain campus. It always amazes me when we look at the numbers that we measure the quantities of gases in tons per person. And remember that the 3 tons per student is only for electricity and does not include natural gas for heating and other uses or transportation uses which involve burning other fossil fuels.
Each and every dollar NAU spends for energy is a dollar that cannot be used for other expenditures such as new computers or salaries. The Campus Sustainability Project and pledge program have attacked the issue of energy use reduction. Those of us who filled in a pledge form are honor bound to be more careful with our energy consumption. Have you made a pledge yet? If not, why not. If you have, how are you doing in meeting your goals?
Energy management on campus is a difficult problem. The root of the problem is one of not thinking far enough ahead. As NAU grew over the decades, decisions were made about the construction of the wires and pipes that link campus buildings. On the one hand a cost savings was had by having a single set of meters measuring utility usage. Since NAU as a whole would be paying the bills, it was only necessary to know the total consumption by NAU. On the other hand this type of metering is extremely bad in terms of energy (utility) management.
Perhaps the most useful tool in terms of designing energy efficiency programs is knowledge of actual energy usage. We are hoping to meter some, if not all, buildings for their individual utility consumption. Where practical the data will be collected and analyzed. All this will cost some upfront money, but having a better understanding of energy and other utility consumption will allow our Environmental Management System to begin to formulate strategies for better utility management practices. Once we begin to understand how energy and other utilities are consumed in different types of campus building, then we can start to reduce the costs of running these buildings.
So NAU is taking a lead in campus sustainability, as pointed out by the New York Times. The first steps are for each member of the NAU community to take personal charge of energy consumption by better managing computer and light use. If each of us takes a small first step, then the community as a whole can save money and reduce our carbon footprint.
Dean Howard Smith
Professor of Economics and Applied Indigenous Studies
Director, Business and Policy Programs, Sustainable Energy Solutions
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Energy and Computers: Are you computing efficiently?
Computer energy use savings was the topic of conversation when ITS Client Computing Manager, Ricky Roberts met with the Campus Sustainability Ambassador’s Network on Thursday March 2.
As the NAU campus continues to become a sustainable university, our use (and misuse) of electricity is becoming quite a hot topic, and Roberts’ presentation really cleared up some of the confusion on the best energy saving computer tips.
Here are some of the major points that Robert’s passed along:
- Modern computers are built to cycle on and off 40,000 times. Conventional wisdom used to be that turning your computer on and off was detrimental to the computer’s life span. Well, that was in the past. Unless your computer is 6+ years old, it’s perfectly safe to power off and on.
- A continuously running computer releases 2161 lbs. of CO² per year.
- Turning off your computer at the end of the day means that your computer uses 67% less energy. (8 hours per day vs. 24 hours per day)
- Turning off your computer at the end of the day avoids the release of 1441 lbs. of CO² emissions per year.
- It costs about $45 per year to power a computer 24 hours a day. By turning off your computer at the end of the day this amount decreases by 2/3 to $15 per year.
- There are 6000 computers on campus. If they are turned off at the end of the day, this avoids more than 8.5 million lbs. of annual CO² emissions and saves about $90,000.
- The newer your computer, the more energy efficient it is. In recent years, power saving modes such as, sleep mode or hibernate have seriously impacted power efficiency.
- Sleep mode, stand by, and hibernate are features that must be manually enabled. You can enable these functions by clicking on control panel, and then performance and maintenance, then power options.
- Most computers will take 1-4 seconds to restore from sleep mode and 10 seconds to restore from hibernate.
- The single easiest way to save energy for your computer is to turn off your monitor, even if you’re going away for just a couple of seconds.
- Flat screen monitors use considerably less energy than cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors.
- Printers use a lot of energy, between 100-150 watts of energy per job. If your not using it, turn it off… and, of course, don’t print unless you have to!
Above all, the message is to be aware of your energy use, and the easy things we can all do in our daily lives to use energy responsibly. If you would like more information, or to become a Campus Sustainability Ambassador, just send us an email: sustain@nau.edu.
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Come Respect Your Mama for SEC Earth Day 2006
Earth Day is rapidly approaching, and the Society of Environmental Communicators (SEC) will be celebrating in a big way with our 8th annual Earth Fest. The SEC Earth Fest will be held at the NAU campus on Friday, April 21. Activities will take place at the Tinsley-Wilson-Allen Quad from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year the SEC plans to show students and the wider community how they can help celebrate the Earth. We plan to use this event as an opportunity to increase environmental awareness on campus and in the community. Further, we hope to involve as many student and community organizations as possible.
Participants in this year’s Earth Day will include student organizations such as the Forestry Club and Eco-house, community groups such as Sierra Club and New Frontiers, and members of local Native American tribes and women’s rights groups. This year we are proud to bring local Flagstaff elementary students to NAU’s Earth Day Festival.
Other activities will include local bands, an Earth-themed poetry slam, various speakers and workshops, video screenings, a vegan bake-off, a children’s art corner, and much more. Free food will be provided for all who attend. This will be one of the biggest events on the NAU campus this spring, so come check out the Earth Day festivities, and respect your mama. Contact SEC at sec@nau.edu for more information.
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What is your ecological footprint?
The United States makes up less than 5% of the world's population, yet we consume more than 25% of the world's resources. If the rest of the world followed this same pattern, we would need an additional 4 planets worth of resources. The ecological footprint quiz was designed to show each of us how our actions and inactions effect the world we live in. Take the ecological footprint quiz to find out what kind of impact you have. 15 short and easy questions will help you judge your impact. It's an eye-opener!
Assess your ecological footprint at: http://www.ecofoot.org/
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Endorse the Earth Charter
“The Earth Carter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all peoples a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well being of the human family and the larger living world. It is an expression of hope and a call to help create a global partnership at a critical juncture in history.”
Endorse the Earth Charter today: http://www.earthcharter.org/
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