UW energy-conservation saves money

Despite the end of Washington's water shortage of last summer and the slowing down of the drastically increasing energy costs last year, the UW is still taking measures to reduce energy usage.

So far, 2002 has seen the amount of energy used by UW drop from last year, which also dropped from 2000. Energy savings are being measured against the 2000 consumption levels.

January saw an energy decrease of about 7.5 percent, the largest so far. February's energy use decreased about 4.7 percent. March's usage dropped by about 7.4 percent, while April was down again to around 4.2 percent.

The UW consistently saved about 10 percent through last year, according to Eric Hausman, director of finance and administration for Facilities Services, but the overall savings was not as high.

Despite the savings from last year, the UW is still striving to reach Gov. Gary Locke's goal of having all state institutions cut their energy use by 10 percent, a request he made at the height of the energy crisis last winter. The UW has managed to decrease 8.1 percent since Locke's order.

"We as a campus need to do a better job of conserving," Hausman said.

Looking at dollar amounts of savings, UW has saved about $543,000 so far this year, compared to what was spent during the first four months of the base year of 2000. This figure does not take into account that energy prices have increased since, implying that real conservation is much higher.

Numbers show reductions have been taking place, but the numbers in this case are not entirely accurate.

According to Dave Fields, maintenance zone manager with Facilities Services, variables such as temperature have to be taken into account when looking at numbers from year to year. For example, when the temperature drops, energy usage increases; this is inconsistent year-to-year.

Hausman reiterates that numbers do not always tell the whole truth. He points out the price of energy has fluctuated over the past year, making dollar amounts a less reliable way to tell how much the UW has been conserving.

Facilities Service has, over the last two years, taken institution-wide conservation steps. Lowering the thermostats in most campus buildings to 65 degrees, turning off the lights in vending machines, and introducing flow restrictors and water-conserving toilets and urinals in some campus buildings have all been implemented.

The University has encouraged faculty, staff and students to be aware of the energy they consume and to take steps to reduce their usage.

Individual energy-conservation actions range through all aspects of campus, including computer use, lighting, equipment and building use. The campus community is encouraged not to leave computers running overnight or on weekends. Keeping printers off when not in use and utilizing the sleep function present on many newer computers also can conserve energy.