Call to conservation
New building temperature policy aims to save energy, money, environment
BY JENNIFER EVANS
Rice News staff
Rice has highly valued degrees — just ask those who pay the university’s heating and cooling bills.
Over the past year, Rice’s energy costs have increased by almost 40 percent — or $4 million — even though the university’s overall energy consumption has remained steady. In light of this, the university earlier this month issued a building temperature policy that will be implemented across campus.
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In an e-mail to the Rice community announcing the new policy, President David Leebron wrote, “We can help mitigate these cost increases with some conservation measures that will impose relatively minor inconveniences, especially when you consider the payback in lower costs and environmental benefits.”
The policy, developed by a committee of faculty, staff and administrators representing a broad range of campus constituencies, calls for buildings to be 74-78 degrees for cooling and 68-72 degrees for heating. It also sets the relative humidity range at a minimum of 40 percent and maximum of 65 percent. Certain specialized areas, such as laboratories, library collections, the Data Center and galleries, are exempt from these guidelines but will be expected to be maintained within recognized efficient ranges for their types of use.
The policy also established general hours of operation for the university — 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Classroom operating hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, with additional weekend operating hours on request. Laboratory and associated office operating hours will be established in consultation with the researchers and deans, with the intent of maximizing energy savings without disrupting research. Similarly, other specialty spaces, such as the library, are also understood to differ from the university’s general hours of operation.
In the coming weeks and months, Facilities, Engineering and Planning (FE&P) will be working with people all over campus to implement this new temperature policy. Richard Johnson, Rice’s director of sustainability and chair of the energy committee, and Susann Glenn, communications manager for FE&P, will be meeting with deans and building contacts to make sure FE&P understands the needs of each building’s occupants before any adjustments are made.
“We understand there are special cases and a need for flexibility,” Glenn said.
FE&P has always been willing to work with its customers, which is in part how the temperature and schedules have eroded over time.
“Rice used to have buildings within set temperature ranges and operating hours, but they gradually got out of whack,” Johnson said. “Facilities personnel are inclined to please their customers, and in the absence of guidelines, that’s what they did — they adjusted the temperatures to satisfy the ‘squeaky wheel’ or adjusted buildings’ schedules for air conditioning and heating after hours, which then were never reset.”
Reining in the temperatures and schedules won’t happen overnight. Some buildings can be addressed fairly quickly and easily. But others will require hands-on attention.
“Almost every building can be monitored remotely to one degree or another,” said Eric Valentine, energy management coordinator in FE&P. “I would say 40 percent of the buildings have the ability to be fully controlled remotely. Older buildings, such as Lovett Hall, can only be viewed.”
Russell Price, assistant vice president for facilities, said the effort will take time and patience from the entire campus. He said about 60 percent of the buildings will require special calibration and testing by skilled FE&P personnel. That will help to highlight the systems which they can make immediate adjustments on and the systems that may require more work or special funding. He noted that FE&P will work closely with customers to ensure they are aware of any changes or delays.
Johnson said the policy has been well-received. “Faculty, students and staff have been exceptionally responsive to energy conservation,” he said. “In fact, I’ve already received suggestions on additional ways to save energy, such as having custodians make sure they turn off lights in offices after they’re done cleaning.”
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Some parts of campus aren’t waiting; they’re already implementing some of the suggestions in Leebron’s campuswide e-mail (see box below) to manage their energy use for the benefit of the university. Fondren Library, for instance, has asked its staff to turn off computers, printers and all external devices like scanners and hard drives at night, have copiers and faxes either go into sleep mode or be turned off at night and to not use screen savers. They also set a policy for all computers to automatically go into sleep mode after a certain amount of idle time.
Diane Butler, assistant university librarian for IT, said, “The library was very enthusiastic about helping with these measures and was very receptive to them. We figured that even if it was a small amount of money saved per computer, it would add up in the long run over years.”
Johnson said, “It’s all about getting out of old habits that we’re all in and creating new habits.”
Members of the energy committee are George Cochrum, senior department administrator in the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies; Melinda Flannery, assistant university librarian for technical service in Fondren Library; Johnson; Kimberly Lawrence, senior budget analyst in the Budget Office; Elizabeth Long, professor and chair of sociology; David McDonald, director of residential dining; Ron Parry, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and cell biology; Emil Pena, executive director of the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute; Shelby Sims, Data Center operations manager; Gale Stokes, the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor Emeritus of History; and Valentine.
To read the Rice University Building Temperature Policy or find answers to frequently asked questions, visit http://facilities.rice.edu. To report energy waste issues, such as cold temperatures, open doors or windows and faulty plumbing fixtures, e-mail energywaste@rice.edu or call the facilities service center at 713-348-2485.
| Energy conservation is everyone’s responsibility. Following is a list of things members of the Rice community can do to help:
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