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Date
It seems like most, if not all, colleges and universities these days are undertaking some pretty interesting projects to help the triple bottom line of their respective schools. Boston University, the one I work for part-time, is no exception. I relate these projects to you not only as something BU is doing, but also as potential projects that you can undertake with your enterprise. After all, it is our contention that project managers are business leaders and it follows then that as business leaders, sustainability (the triple bottom line) is almost a given as one of our jobs.
For instance, a year ago, BU announced a “competition” between the various dormitories challenging the students to reduce their energy usage over the same period the previous year. According to sustainability@BU, “The challenge, in which the dorm with the largest reduction from previous years wins a pizza party, provided a fun way to foster awareness among the student body and to educate them on the simple ways to make a huge impact on our 
campus-wide carbon footprint.” The chart at left shows the campus-wide impact of the competition. Danielsen Hall certainly had the greatest improvement, but there were significant reductions at most of the competing dorms.
We have always said that stakeholders are becoming more aware of sustainability issues and it is echoed by Danielsen’s RHA Vice President, Monica Martin, “I believe our students were very mindful about their electricity consumption and remembered that turning off the lights when they were out is one very simple way to save energy and not waste power. Opening the blinds on a sunny day instead of turning on the light is also a very simple way students have saved power,” she said. Further, sustainability@BU reports that she also believes that the residents have continued these behaviors even though the competition is over. Changing behavior so that sustainability becomes second nature is what we are all about with our People, Planet, Profits and Projects blog.
One of the resident students, David Meyer, had a great quote “Energy costs money. Just because I don’t have to pay for it doesn’t mean I should waste it.” The energy savings were achieved by doing simple things: unplugging fully charged laptops, using energy efficient light bulbs, and turning down the heat when leaving for class.
Another sizeable undertaking by BU was over intercession this year. At the track and tennis center all of the halide lights were replaced with new LED fixtures. The light output is much greater, but the energy needed has been greatly reduced to the tune of about a 40% reduction, enough to power 70 homes in the US for a year.
One of the more interesting aspects of the project was that because the new fixtures are so efficient, “they are linked on a wireless network that allows the fixtures to communicate. The building is divided into seven unique zones that can be controlled remotely. Each of the tennis courts, the track, throwing cage, and the stands all have separate lighting controls which allow for only certain areas of the facility to be lit as needed, greatly reducing energy use.” “We can control each fixture in terms of lighting output,” says Director of Building Automation Services, Elijah Ercolino, adding that “[the system] is infinitely flexible.” The system saves energy (profits and planet) and provides better lighting (people).
While your enterprise may not be able to undertake a project like a track and tennis center, it should be able to apply the more simple energy saving methods like unplugging laptops when fully charged and turning down the heat when finished for the day, adding to the triple bottom line.
Posted
by
Dave Shirley
on: January 27, 2014 04:40 PM |
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