Campus-wide
All members of the campus community are encouraged to manage the energy
under their control. Know which light switches you can flip, which computers and printers
you can power down, which fume hoods you can close, etc.
Offices & Labs
Older buildings make energy conservation challenging, but a large portion of
UC Davis energy usage is under discretionary control of departments or individuals. If all
members of the campus community would voluntarily adopt and faithfully follow the following
energy-saving strategies, we could reduce our electrical and natural gas energy usage.
- Develop an energy awareness community in your building. Get to know
people in other departments and explore how you can work together to reduce the energy
consumption for your building. This is important, since most campus energy is managed
building-wide, not by department.
- Know and cooperate with scheduled hours of building operations;
do not expect buildings to have fully operational HVAC systems during evenings and weekends
when there is minimal occupant use.
- Replace old refrigerators and freezers with new Energy Star™ rated
equipment. Take advantage of rebates from the
campus Refrigerator-Freezer Replacement Program.
- Enable energy saving options on all office equipment and computers.
- Install motion sensors on lighting in common areas.
- Replace old printers and copiers with new equipment. Newer
printer/copier/scanners can be networked, so more people can share equipment.
Scanner capability reduces or eliminates paper documents. Contact:
- Select the right-sized copier. A mid-volume copier in a low-volume
office can use up to 70% more energy per page than a low-volume machine.
- Choose ink jet printers instead of laser printers. Ink jet printers use 90% less energy.
- Use daylight from windows when you can.
- Choose light colors when redecorating office spaces.
- Turn lights off when no one’s around, including classrooms, restrooms
and conference rooms. Reduce area lighting where feasible. Contact Facilities Management,
530-752-1655, for a lighting evaluation.
- If feasible, have custodial staff work during the day so that building lights can be turned off at night.
- In areas with windows, use curtains or shades, especially empty conference rooms, offices, and common areas.
- During the cooling season, close drapes and shades on west and
south-facing windows. Shade can reduce your peak cooling load in a south or west facing room by more than 30%.
- During the heating season, open blinds, drapes, and curtains
to allow sunlight in for solar heat gain. In the evenings, close blinds, drapes, and curtains to reduce thermal heat loss.
- Use laptop computers if possible. They consume 90% less energy than standard desktop computers.
Lab-specific tips
- Keep fume hood sashes closed whenever possible. This reduces the
load considerably for building exhaust fans and supply fans, and reduces thermal energy
use from the Central Utilities Plant. closing a VAV hood sash can cut the air volume and cost by two thirds!
- Turn off air valves.
- Fill autoclaves before use.
- Remove antiquated equipment.
- Use timers to turn other pieces of equipment on and off.
- When using automatic glassware washers, wait until you have a full load before operating.
Individuals
- Stop using screen savers, especially animated ones. They draw more processor
power than an blank screen. Use the following steps (for PC) to make your monitor go blank and enter the PowerSave mode:
- Right click on your desktop (not an icon, but somewhere in the desktop pattern) and select Properties
- In the Display Properties window, Click on the Screen Saver tab
- Under the Screen Saver tab, in the Monitor Power section, click the 'Power...' button
- In the Power Options Properties window, set 'Turn off monitor' to 'After 20 minutes' (or less)
- Click OK to close the Power Options Properties window
- Click OK to close the Display Properties window
- Use the stairs instead of the elevators if you can.
- Do not use personal coffee makers, coffee cup warmers, refrigerators,
fans or space heaters. (Try a microwavable heating pad instead of a space heater.)
- If you must use a space heater, take a tip from our colleagues at
University of Idaho and choose a radiant panel type heater.
(http://www.dfm.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=89950)
- Dress comfortably for the weather (and for any idiosyncrasies in your
building’s heating and cooling). Adjust your clothing layers before adjusting the thermostat.
- Wait until you are ready to use your computer before turning it on.
- Try to plan your computer-related activities so you can do them all at once, keeping the computer off at other times.
References:
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It Does Make A Difference
Individual actions to save energy make a difference. If you’ve heard otherwise, it’s just a myth.
How much difference?
- Shades and blinds can reduce a room’s peak cooling load by 30 to 50%.
- Closing a fume hood sash can cut the air volume and cost by two thirds!
- Putting your computer and monitor "to sleep" cuts power use nearly to zero.
- Powersave and overnight shutdown can reduce annual energy use by 85%.
- A laptop uses half the electricity of a desktop computer.
- Flat panel LCD monitors use less than half the energy of the traditional CRT monitors.
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What is the Campus Doing?
Facilities Management is implementing a Strategic Energy Plan to improve the
energy efficiency of the campus’s utility systems. The plan includes repairing, updating and
calibrating heating, cooling and other mechanical systems for optimum performance. In addition,
all new and renovated facilities are being built to environmental standards established by the
Green Building Council. Through partnerships with academic research centers, we are demonstrating
and evaluating innovative technologies for conserving and producing clean energy.
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