Earth Day & Other News.
We would like to thank everyone who came by and saw us at Earth Day, this past Thursday. We had a great turn out, and hopefully everyone who was involved had fun!
The Climate Center would also like you to take a peek at an article that was recently sent out to local news media outlets:
Troy and Albany, NY - When you consider the amount of power needed to run rooms full of computers and cafeteria equipment, and to heat, light, and cool an entire campus, there is no denying that colleges are huge consumers of energy. According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, instead of leading the pack in energy waste, colleges today should be taking a leadership role in educating students and employees about ways to achieve a sustainable society.
In Troy and Albany, The Sage Colleges is doing just that by turning to renewable energy sources and by installing state-of-the-art digital controls on all HVAC, lighting, and other electrical equipment.
In only one year the school has reduced its carbon footprint by nearly 2,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. Sage’s switch to wind power is equivalent to taking 407 cars off the road each year. Director of Facilities Nick Insognia said that as of May 1of this year, 50% of Sage’s total annual electricity use is generated using renewable wind power. Hess Corporation supplies all of the natural gas and electricity consumed by the colleges and provides the e-certified National Wind Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) that allow the school to cut greenhouse gas emissions even more as energy markets allow.
The shift to wind power actually costs the school about 1% more than relying on non-renewable energy. But this cost is dwarfed by how much Sage has saved in the past year through automating all of its building electronics including heating, air conditioning, and lighting. Called “direct digital control” (DDC) the devices are being installed with in-house electricians, and reduce lighting and heating literally at the touch of a button, saving the college around $250,000 per year in energy costs on just the Troy campus alone. This is very cost-effective way to make older buildings more efficient without tearing out existing heaters and other appliances.
“A utility consultant actually called us to ask if there was a problem with our meters,” said Insognia, “because our usage had dropped so dramatically.”
The DDC controllers are being added to the two campuses on an ongoing basis, meaning that Sage’s cost savings will continue to grow. “You can see that the small amount extra that we are paying to use wind power is nothing compared to how much we are saving through automation,” said Insognia. “Wind power is Sage’s way of giving back by reducing our carbon footprint even more.”
The region’s Climate Crisis and Educational Awareness Center
The Troy campus (Russell Sage College) is also home to the Climate Crisis and Educational Awareness Center, which is a regional arm of Al Gore’s internationally known Climate Project. RSC senior Sara Shapleigh is coordinator of the center and says that promoting environmental education and community activism is the responsibility of her generation. “We are the ones that are going to be running the nation soon,” she said, “and we will need to work with even more limited resources than previous generations had.”
Sage Professor Stephen Leibo established the Center after being personally trained by Gore to give updated versions of the climate change slideshow featured in the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. The Sage center is based on campus, but is a resource intended for the entire upstate NY and Vermont regions. “We want the public to know that we are here,” said Shapleigh, “so that we can coordinate volunteers, and provide education and information about climate change and related topics, like recycling.”
Way to go Sage! Lets keep up the good work!
