Sustainability Initiative

Statement about commitment to sustainability

by Dr. Bob Harbort, Computer Science

I intend to be the member of this committee pushing for us to "pick the low hanging fruit" in our conservation efforts. 35-50% of the energy usage of a school this size is spent on lighting, and we have not yet fully committed to the simple idea of being good stewards of our resources and turning off lights when areas are not in use.

I realize this is low-tech and not glitzy, so I've rephrased the old stickers that said "Going out? Lights out!" Here's the new version:

"This room is equipped with an energy management device intended to help SPSU reduce energy consumption and lessen its carbon footprint. Though the device must be manually activated, once it is working it will conserve energy as long as necessary without consuming any energy itself. Please activate it when leaving the room. It's very simple to use -- just flip the activation lever to the opposite of its current setting."