The Red and Black

The central steam plant, located next to statistics, provides heat for most of campus. (TOM O'CONNOR | The Red & Black) [Click to enlarge]

As the weather turns cold, the University is cooking up new ways to cut back on heating costs and energy expenditures.

The University has allocated almost $400,000 for programs to reduce energy use on campus. Next month, the University will implement its annual holiday heating reductions. And public relations students have joined the effort to get the word out about energy conservation.

On the Office of Energy Services' Web site, students, faculty and staff can submit suggestions for conserving energy on campus or report instances of energy waste they see on campus.

The annual budget for utilities on campus is $28 million.

The University set aside $395,000 for new programs the administration expects will save the University money on its energy and heating bills, according to an Oct. 12 press release.

The University will spend $150,000 of that money to conduct energy audits of campus buildings like pilot audits conducted in the Ecology Building last spring and the Driftmier Engineering Center this semester.

An engineering faculty member will plan and oversee the audits at a cost of $60,000.

A new "energy engineer" position to coordinate campus conservation was created with $75,000 of the funds. Ken Crowe, assistant director of Utilities for the Physical Plant, was appointed to the job.

The University will use another $75,000 to install meters to monitor and control the use of utilities in buildings.

The University will spend $35,000 to research renewable fuels for campus vehicles and further diversifying fuels for campus heating by using a combination of wood biomass and coal at the central steam plant.

Pipelines from the central steam plant provide the sole form of heat for 65 percent of the campus' buildings, Crowe said.

The central steam plant, built in the 1940s, is next to the Statistics Building on Cedar Drive. Railroad cars bring loads of coal for the boiler that heats water into steam heat for distribution across campus.

The Baxter Street residence halls and almost all the buildings between Lumpkin Street and East Campus Road are on the centralized steam system, Crowe said.

Buildings east of East Campus Road, such as the Ramsey Center, have their own boilers for heat.

But the University plans to extend the centralized system to these buildings in the next 2-3 years because it is more economical to run only one plant, Crowe said.

The new art school under construction will use the centralized pipeline.

Crowe said the University tries to burn only coal throughout the year because coal is the cheapest fuel.

But the coal-powered boilers do not provide enough steam in the winter months, and the University supplements the steam supply by also burning natural gas and heating oil in separate boilers.

The University saves money by getting its natural gas on an interruptible basis - meaning if demand goes up elsewhere, the University's supply is stopped, and it switches temporarily to heating oil.

Coal is not as environmentally friendly as natural gas, but the coal boiler already has a filter to remove 99 percent of particulate matter visible in its exhaust, Crowe said.

In spring 2007, the University plans to modify the coal boiler by adding a new pollution control "scrubber" system to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions - one of the causes of acid rain - by 50 percent, Crowe said.

The University cuts its heating costs in the winter by lowering thermostats in many buildings to minimum heating levels.

The cutbacks affect buildings, such as Student Learning Center, which are closed while the University shuts down for the winter holidays.

The SLC also cuts back on the number of hours it is open the week after final exams end and the heating system shuts down each night after closing, said Shannon Bennett, facility coordinator at the SLC.

The SLC averaged 10,000 visitors a day during finals week last year, she said. In the week that followed, the building averaged 400 visitors a day.

The heating cutbacks at the SLC continue from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2, 2007 - when the SLC is closed for the winter holidays.

During this interim period, thermostats are set to the lowest levels, the building's window shades are turned to retain heat and the building's staff shut down all the computers.

The cutbacks do not affect continuously operated campus locations such as the Main Library, research laboratories and animal quarters.

In December 2005, this program saved the University $150,000.

Crowe said these savings were "avoided costs" because the University could meet its reduced heating needs without burning natural gas, which was expensive following Hurricane Katrina.

The holiday heating cutbacks aren't the only way the University community is reducing consumption. The UGA Unplugged public relations campaign encourages students, faculty and staff to participate in conservation on campus.

For their class project, masters students and undergraduate seniors in Lynne Sallot's public relations class conducted focus groups to research students' thoughts on conservation and then designed the UGA Unplugged campaign.

The students produced promotional wristbands to distribute before the homecoming football game and created content for the Office of Energy Services' Web site, said Sallot, an associate professor in the advertising and public relations department of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Crowe said the Web site received 1,000 visitors after an e-mail was sent campus-wide Wednesday.

Sallot said the Web site has already received three replies from the campus community offering suggestions to reduce energy waste.

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