UNM on path to becoming "energy and water neutral campus"

From encouraging bike riding to putting solar panels back on its Mechanical Engineering Building, the University of New Mexico has tackled energy efficiency campuswide in the past year.

The efforts have been noticed. On Wednesday night, UNM received two of seven energy awards given by the New Mexico Association of Energy Engineers (NMAEE).  UNM President David Schmidly received the 2008 Energy Leadership Award and the UNM Mechanical Engineering Building was honored as 2008 Renewable Energy Project of the Year, according to the NMAEE.

The award letter to Schmidly, which was released in part by UNM, congratulates him on his "foresight" in signing the American College and University President's Climate Commitment within one month of his arrival at UNM last year, and for other actions that are turning UNM "into a truly sustainable campus." The letter says:
 

"With your courageous leadership, UNM is on the path to an energy and water neutral campus. ... Your decisions on sustainability will have a strong impact on the students, who will take your vision across New Mexico, the country and beyond."

Facilities Engineer Hans Barsun and associate professor Andrea Mammoli were honored with the 2008 Renewable Energy Project of the Year for their efforts in returning solar panels to their former glory on the roof of the Mechanical Engineering Building, as they were when the building was opened in 1980. Abandoned and left to deteriorate when energy prices dropped at the end of that decade, they are now being revamped and supplemented with new panels by the professors, working with graduate students, and being put back up on the roof, according to senior communications representative Karen Wentworth.

UNM has initiated an extensive list of efforts toward energy efficiency and sustainability campus-wide in the last year under Schmidly.

With these steps, Schmidly estimates the campus can shave $500,000 from its energy budget for the fiscal year that ends next June 30, Wentworth told the New Mexico Independent.

"We are re-examining everything we do for energy savings," Wentworth said. For example, "Last year building maintenance was done at night. We are now shifting to more of a daytime schedule so the buildings don’t have to be heated or cooled just for maintenance crews."

At the same time, the Parking and Alternative Transportation Department has done what it can to convince students they don't need to bring a car on campus.

Here are some of the other steps the university has taken or is about to undertake:

- UNM hired a company to examine every building to see whether there are leaks, whether the temperatures are set correctly and whether the thermostats are set at efficient levels when the buildings are vacant.

- The provost is looking at class scheduling to determine whether that can be done more efficiently.

- Online classes are being added so students don’t have to travel to campus for every class.

- UNM is about to seek bids for construction of another 500-1,000 rooms/apartments on campus so more undergraduate and graduate students can live on campus.

- After the State Legislature appropriated money so that free bus passes could be given to every student, the university worked out an agreement with the city of Albuquerque to give free bus passes to faculty and staff.

- The Parking and Alternative Transportation Department set up a program where people can carpool and share parking passes.

- A traveling tire pressure tent is on campus this week. Anyone can get their tire pressure checked and underinflated tires filled and the tent moves to a different parking lot every day.

- Staff members at university libraries have developed an arrangement that allows students and faculty to request journal articles online. If an article is not available electronically, the staff will scan the article and email it to the individual making the request.

- Later this fall, UNM will build a fenced-in bike park next to Carlisle Gym, and UNM is working with the city to provide a kiosk where bikes can be rented. The Parking and Alternative Transportation is loaning bikes to departments for trips around campus.


- UNM's sustainability program is converting an older-model UNM shuttle bus to run on used fryer grease from the Student Union Building and La Posada Dining Room, and they expect to have it converted by the end of the semester.

- The Physical Plant is changing incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs.

Wentworth said the university is also working on a “Green Zone” web site to pull together all the various efforts involving energy savings and sustainability.

In addition, UNM has a Sustainability Studies Program, which has its own Web site. Director Bruce Milne, with the help of a former student, put together an online "Sustainability Coaching Kit" that anyone can use to reduce their own "carbon footprint."

Earlier this year, the Sustainability Studies Program was briefly without funding due to an oversight, but Schmidly helped secure funds to ensure its operation, as was reported in the Independent  at the time.

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