Just as Americans feel the pinch of increased energy cost, so does the University of Houston despite numerous energy conservation projects that save UH between $3 million to $4 million a year. To cut costs further, UH administrators are implementing new measures.

UH Today discussed energy conservation with Dave Irvin, associate vice president for plant operations, and Rives Taylor, Kirksey Chair for Sustainable Design and assistant professor of architecture.

IT ENERGY-SAVING SUGGESTIONS The UH Department of Information Technology recommends that faculty and staff follow the steps below to conserve energy: Turn off computers and monitors overnight, on weekends and during extended periods of inactivity during the day (anything more than two hours) unless specific requirements don’t allow for this. Many people leave their equipment on overnight because that’s usually when they’ve scheduled their computers to receive security patches and antivirus and operating system updates. Setting up your computer to perform these functions during business hours addresses the problem of security and still allows for your equipment to be shut-down overnight. For additional information, see the IT News story, “Microsoft Windows and McAfee VirusScan Checkup,” at www.uh.edu/checkup. Turn off copiers when not used for extended periods of time. Turn off printers, especially laser printers, when not used for extended periods of time. Ensure that your equipment is configured for energy savings, done through the control or setup panel. Use energy-saving and cooler-running flat screen monitors. Don’t use screen savers. Modern monitors don’t need them, and they don’t save energy. In fact, they can actually increase energy usage. Have equipment plugged into power strips equipped with surge protectors. After logging off at the end of the day, turn off the power strip. Simply powering down your computer and other devices allows a small amount of electricity to continue to circulate. For more information about these recommendations, please contact the IT Support Center at 713-743-1411 or e-mail support.uh.edu. The full report will be available on the IT Web site soon.

Q What has the University of Houston done to conserve energy and reduce costs?
A Irvin: We started energy conservation projects in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since that time, we’ve spent more than $23 million on a series of energy conservation projects. Those projects included everything from creating our own electrical substation to replacing outdated inefficient mechanical equipment to replacing our fluorescent lights and most of our electric lighting to much more energy-efficient lighting.

Some of the more recent steps included changing our chillers in our central utilities plant, which allows us to provide more air conditioning for new buildings such as the Science and Engineering Research and Classroom Complex and do it for less cost. That move is saving UH about $1 million a year. We also implemented smaller projects such as replacing the pedestrian sidewalks lights. That’s really a win-win situation. We have a light that lasts longer, provides four times as much light on the sidewalk and is more energy efficient than the previous light. That project will pay for itself in about 2 1/2 years just from the amount of electricity that we save. I estimate that altogether the energy conservation measures UH has taken in the last 10 years have saved $3 million to $4 million a year in energy costs.

Q What can the university do to further reduce energy and cost?
A Irvin: UH is doing a number of things to conserve energy. We have received a $500,000 matching grant from CenterPoint Energy for conservation measures. We have used that grant to upgrade some of the motors and mechanical equipment in our older buildings, which will provide tremendous energy savings. CenterPoint has done a number of energy audits of some of our buildings, starting with some of the older buildings. They have recommended a number of steps, including replacing equipment to putting occupancy sensors in rooms so that when people leave the lights are turned off automatically. We’ve tested the sensors at UH-Clear Lake and UH-Downtown. We have had tremendous results at those universities, so we are going to add sensors to UH classrooms, starting this summer. In terms of our new construction, we’re using industry and nationwide standards on how to make a building more energy efficient.

Taylor: As we construct buildings, we should consider implementing daylight harvesting, which advocates the effective use of daylight. Daylight harvesting is not simply turning the lights off but to dim them with sensors so that at all times the appropriate level of lighting occurs. For example, if it is a bright day, the lights should be turned off or down. Daylight harvesting is based upon how much light students and professors need.

Another issue is the computer. The sooner we replace older computer monitors with flat screen monitors, the better. The flat panel-type monitors generate relatively little heat, and they have sleep modes that automatically turn off computers that are not in use after a certain time.

The next step is to install windows, insulation and roofs that can help reduce the heat and the humidity coming inside. That’s a lot more expensive and elaborate. It also would be wise to plow back every dollar that we save into energy-conservation projects. Improving energy not only saves the dollar once but it pays for itself, especially as energy gets more and more expensive.

Q What are the measures faculty, staff and students can take to help conserve energy?
A Irvin: They can do simple things like turning off lights and computers when not in use, just that could save 3 percent to 5 percent of the energy costs on campus. That doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but when you consider that this year UH’s electrical costs will be more than $26 million, then 3 percent to 5 percent is an awful lot of money.

Taylor: Faculty, staff and students should report problems such as if lights are flashing or if the water is running when it shouldn’t. They can greatly assist in keeping on eye on the complex array of the UH buildings.

Q What is the first step of faculty and staff becoming partners in this energy conservation effort?
A Irvin: We need to communicate with faculty and staff and work with them. I’m sure they have
many ideas that we could explore and perhaps implement. It’s a problem for all of us.

Taylor: We should educate the entire UH community about the implications of their actions. There’s a disconnection between action and consequences. We could reinvigorate the concept of “give a watt, turn off the lights.” People think it’s silly, but we’re talking about saving tens of thousands of dollars across this campus. We need to spread the message about energy conservation.

Francine Parker
fparker@central.uh.edu