Campus told to save energy

Everyone knows it is frigid outside, but faculty, staff and students should also be prepared to dress warmly indoors for the rest of this winter because temperatures will be dropping in university buildings.

The tight fists of this winter’s historically high fuel prices and colder-than-normal temperatures are squeezing the state’s energy funds and creating serious budgetary deficits.

“UW-Madison’s portion of these deficits is several million dollars so far this year,” says Chancellor John Wiley.

The governor’s office has ordered all state agencies to conserve energy and promote awareness of conservation among all university facility users. Guidelines include maintaining building temperatures at or below 68 degrees Fahrenheit when occupied and 60 degrees when unoccupied.

The Physical Plant is now working with the university’s schools and colleges to implement these measures on campus.

“We all know the level of inconvenience this program can cause to our building occupants,” says Faramarz Vakili, associate director of the Physical Plant. “But please do not expect us to make exceptions unless we can justify that your request for deviation from these guidelines is due to an academics or research-related mission critical factor.” In addition, Wiley asks faculty and staff to help reduce energy expenses by following some simple conservation suggestions.

Some ideas include making sure windows are shut; closing shades in unoccupied rooms; closing vestibule, entry and loading dock doors; closing sashes on fume hoods; using daylight to illuminate work spaces when possible; and turning off computers, copy machines and lights when not in use.

Contrary to popular belief, it won’t shorten the useful life of your CPU or monitor to shut it down. Set your computer to go into “sleep-mode” during periods of no-use. Screen savers do NOT save energy. Also:

• Make sure primary windows and stormwindows are completely closed.
• Close loading dock doors promptly. Shut both double doors at vestibule entryways.
• Do not use electric space heaters. If your work area is not reaching 68 degrees during occupied periods, contact Physical Plant so that the problem can be addressed. “Please remember that conserving energy is everyone’s responsibility,” says Wiley. “If we cannot reduce our energy costs, it could have a significant negative impact on the university’s budget and hence the funding available to everyone.”

The Physical Plant is developing an energy conservation awareness program. For details, call the hotline, 263-3334.

The Physical Plant web site, http://www.fpm.wisc.edu/pp, also has more information on this initiative.