A New Front for Campus Activism: Energy Efficiency

The Next Generation of Fireworks May All Be Green

By GreenBiz Staff
Published: July 2, 2009

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Despite being a centerpiece of celebrations the world over, fireworks displays often release toxic chemicals into the environment; researchers are developing a new generation of fireworks that shine as bright but leave less of an impact.

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Coca Cola to Put Fuel Cells to Work at N.Y. Bottling Plant

By GreenBiz Staff
Published: July 2, 2009

ELMSFORD, N.Y. -- Coca Cola signed a 10-year contract with UTC Power that will bring two fuel cells to a southern New York bottling plant, where they will produce enough heat and energy to satisfy nearly a third of the facility's needs. The state of New York also provided $2 million for the project.

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World's Largest Cement Firms Slow CO2 Emissions Despite Production Growth

By GreenBiz Staff
Published: July 2, 2009

GENEVA, -- Efforts by the world's leading cement companies knocked down carbon dioxide emissions from the industry’s manufacturing process by 35 percent even while production climbed by 53 percent, according to a new report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Cement Sustainability Initiative.

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The lights in Michael Siminovitch's office at the U.C. Davis California Lighting Technology Center dim in response to daylight entering through the windows. These special lights are just one way that Siminovitch, the center's director, believes the university can slash much of its energy demand.

Staff, faculty and students from California universities and colleges recently gathered to learn about hot lighting technology and other new ideas at the UC-CSU-CCC Sustainability in Higher Education Conference. Held at U.C. Santa Barbara this summer, it was the nation's largest conference of its kind.

As climate change looms ever larger and with California still reeling from its 2001 energy crisis, the conference is just one sign that the state's behemoth higher education systems are overcoming bureaucratic inertia and clamoring for greener changes.

In fact, cutting energy use is a key element in the University of California and California State University systems' plans to lessen their environmental toll. With 33 campuses and a combined faculty, students and staff of more than 870,000 people, U.C. and CSU systems have huge energy demands. That demand is only growing as enrollment increases and campuses expand. But despite these upward pressures, U.C. and CSU have managed to slash their energy usage system-wide in recent years and are working to make even deeper cuts.

Fretting over energy efficiency has long been left to campus energy managers who have had little money to invest in conservation. But things changed in 2004 when the state Public Utilities Commission funded the creation of the UC-CSU-IOU Energy Efficiency Partnership. The schools partnered with the four major IOU's, or state investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co. to aggressively cut energy demand through efficiency, efficiency and more efficiency.

In the first two years of the program, U.C. and CSU exceeded savings targets by 30 percent, saving 32 million kilowatt hours and 1.5 million therms of gas in 2004 and 2005. The electricity savings alone are enough to power more than 2,800 homes in the U.S. Now, the PUC has upped the ante -- doubling their funding to $34 million for 2006 to 2008 and asking them to quadruple energy savings.

"The conventional wisdom is that we can do a lot of efficiency and do improvements but our energy costs will always increase," said Karl Brown, deputy director of the U.C.-run California Institute for Energy and Environment. That, Brown added, is simply not true.

From the Present to the Future

While the campuses have taken the obvious steps of retrofitting their facilities with compact fluorescent bulbs, newer machinery and appliances, the university's research arm is helping develop the efficiency tools of tomorrow and holding down energy costs.

In the race to save more energy, there is a constant need for innovation, said Aaron Klemm, CSU's energy program manager. "It's a case of emerging technologies that need to mature," he said.

The partnership relies on U.C. researchers, among others, to do the innovating. One place they are looking to is the California Lighting Technology Center at U.C. Davis. The center's researchers are at work on several projects, including a bi-level stairway fixture. It dims the lights in unused stairwells using integrated occupancy sensors; the lights, installed at seven U.C. and CSU sites, save 50 to 80 percent in energy. The Institute has also helped create what they call an integrated classroom lighting system which reduces the amount of lighting needed by installing ceiling tiles with high reflective paint alongside more efficient lights. The system exceeds current California energy building code standards by 30 to 50 percent.

Siminovitch, the Center for Lighting Technology director, as well as an environmental design professor at U.C. Davis, said lighting sucks up about 20 percent of the state's electricity use. Smarter lighting can make a huge difference in a building's energy demand, he said. But developing technology is not the biggest challenge as Siminovitch sees it: "Our problem is knowledge barriers -- people don't know to do this."