Last week I received an email of epic importance. The Clinton Global Initiative has officially invited ESU to attend their yearly conference in Florida in April. To understand why this is so exciting, let me explain what CGI is. The Clinton Global Initiative is a mufti-issue foundation created by former President Bill Clinton to combat some of the world’s biggest problems.
The group meets once a year to discuss solutions and policies that could be enacted to fight some of the global concerns. These issues range from energy and climate change to global health, from human rights and peace to poverty alleviation. The group is a gathering of city leaders, non-profit organizations, students and community members from around the country who are interested in working together to face these problems.
Clinton Global Initiative University is the same basic principle but to the scope of colleges around the country. The goal of CGI U is to address the biggest issues facing the modern university, mainly environmental sustainability and support for the local community.
So what does this have to do with ESU?
The ESU administration approached Environmental Club last winter and requested we submit a project for CGI U.
That’s where our project comes in. Working with multiple departments on campus including TCS and the physical plant, we have put together a project that could save the school thousands of dollars in energy conservation.
Our project contains two main components: a comprehensive campus wide audit of energy used by the computers and computer accessories, and the implementation of smart strips in all computer labs to reduce the energy use of the computers.
The first part seems almost too basic to include in a project like this, but we were surprised to find out the school did not already possess this information. We are gathering data as to how much energy is used by the computers on campus. This includes when they are being used, when in standby mode, and when turned off. Computers, like a lot of electronics, still use energy when plugged in, even when turned off. This energy audit also includes related electronics such as the monitor, speakers, and printers.
Currently energy information, as well as the cost associated with it, is gathered on a campus-wide level as there is no way to properly gauge what each building is using individually. Our audit will break the information down by buildings to better understand where the most energy is being used.
This information will be monumentally helpful to the campus, as it can be used as a base for all other projects in the future. In order to implement new ideas such as the smart strips, we must first have an idea of how much energy is being used, so we can properly estimate how much will be saved.
Once we have an idea of the state of energy consumption on campus we can discuss plans to reduce use. One of the best ideas presented so far is the use of smart strip technology. These strips, which look like regular surge protectors, would shut down everything that is plugged in once the “main” item was shut down, in this case the computer itself. So if the computer is shut down, the monitor, printer, and speakers would shut down as well. We feel this would drastically reduce the amount of energy that is lost to idle time or when the computer is left on over weekends and after hours.
In the next issue of The Bulletin, I will discuss the other half of our CGI project – the educational aspects.
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