In a 乐播传媒 mechanical room, a worker installs a modular and removable insulating product called Cut’nWrap on a hot-pipe component, one of a series of strategic energy-saving projects over the last three years. (Photo courtesy of Auburn Manufacturing Co.)

As they turn on ovens and exhaust hoods in Commons at 4 o鈥檆lock each morning, the college鈥檚 bakers and chefs are among the first people to throw switches each day at 乐播传媒.

Within a few hours, Dining Services is humming with upwards of 14 different exhaust hoods removing heat, smoke, and fumes (ooh, bacon!).

All those fans cost money to run; money鈥檚 also spent to pull millions of cubic feet of 鈥渕akeup air鈥� back into the building to complete the ventilation cycle.

The 乐播传媒 hoods used to run all day long and well into the night 鈥� but no more. New optical and temperature sensors on 11 of the 14 exhaust hoods know to turn the hoods on when things are cooking and off when the stations are idle.

The Intelli-Hood sensors are part of an opportunistic and strategic $1.5 million investment in energy-efficiency projects over the last three years. Coupled with comprehensive and careful management of the college’s energy-use systems over the last several years, 乐播传媒 has lowered its utility costs from a high of $4.5 million in fiscal 2009 to a projected $3.5 million in fiscal 2017, an impressive 22 percent decrease.

When a campus comprises 170 or so buildings stretched across some 130 acres, the work to keep down energy costs and reduce emissions is constant. But there are spikes in the year-to-year activity.

The current round of projects moved to the front burner in 2014 after 乐播传媒 energy manager John Rasmussen presented a five-year plan of various cost-saving projects to the Board of Trustees. The report showed that “some of the individual measures had two- or three-year payback periods,鈥� Rasmussen says.

Energy manager John Rasmussen is overseeing a strategic investment of $1.5 million in energy-saving projects. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

The board was more than intrigued, recalls Geoff Swift, who arrived in 2014 as the college’s vice president for finance and administration and treasurer. 鈥淚t was clear that they had a strong appetite鈥� for going after the quick-turnaround projects.

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 want to pass on the low-hanging fruit,鈥� Swift says.

Soon, it was go time for Rasmussen, who says the college鈥檚 leadership 鈥渄eserves a lot of credit鈥� for green-lighting the quick-return investments. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a great attitude about what can be done and what is possible.鈥�

Geoffrey Swift, 乐播传媒 vice president for finance and administration and treasurer. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

Besides cost savings, the cherry-picked projects have reduced the college鈥檚 carbon emissions by 12 percent, to 12,061 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2015.

While Rasmussen deals with the same challenges as his predecessors 鈥� 鈥渨e have a very old campus that we overheat, over ventilate, over cool, and over light鈥� 鈥� he has state-of-the-art tools that help bring that low-hanging fruit even closer to the ground.

The exhaust sensors in Commons certainly fall into that category. According to various case studies, the Intelli-Hood units cut the cost of running exhaust fans by up to 75 percent and reduce the need for makeup air by up to 40 percent. At 乐播传媒, this single improvement is expected to save $60,000 annually.

“You need fresh air, but only the amount you need.鈥�

Homeowners know about heating and cooling, but less about ventilation. For a college, efficiently ventilating large buildings is a big and expensive part of the three-pronged HVAC equation of heat, ventilation, and air-conditioning.

鈥淥ur buildings used to be ventilated whenever they were scheduld to be open, and if that meant from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., so be it,鈥� Rasmussen says. 鈥淭he goal now is to only ventilate spaces as much as we need to. You need fresh air, but only the amount you need.鈥�

New technology makes possible what is called 鈥渄emand-controlled ventilation,鈥� or DCV, which brings outside air into a building only needed, exemplified by the exhaust hoods in Commons.

Executive chef Owen Keene grills chicken under an Intelli-Hood in the kitchen at Commons. One sensor is attached to the hood and looks like a pencil sharpener. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Another way that DCV works is through CO2 sensors that estimate how many people are in a building. More people means more CO2 being produced, which means more ventilation is needed. CO2-based sensors are buildings like Merrill, Carnegie, Ladd, Underhill, Dana, Gray Athletic, and Olin.

Those buildings also have start-stop controls that deliver both 鈥渁ccuracy and intelligence,鈥� Rasmussen says, because they know when to kick on the heat in order to get the building comfortable in time for the first 8 o鈥檆lock class, for example.

Not all the recent projects are high-tech. 乐播传媒 has replaced several hundred windows in dozens of buildings across the campus. While the financial payback period for new windows is relatively long, up to eight years, the goodwill payback is quick. 鈥淭hey make the occupants happier.鈥� (True that: we鈥檝e gotten new windows in our 乐播传媒 Communications offices on Nichols Street; no more drafts and rattles on windy winter days).

Another recent project tackled the challenge of hard-to-insulate heating components, like valves, fittings, and flanges, in various mechanical rooms on campus.

For this project, Rasmussen called on a local company, Auburn Manufacturing, to install its modular and removable insulating product, Ever Green Cut鈥檔Wrap, on 500 hot-pipe components in 18 mechanical rooms on campus.

The project will reduce the college鈥檚 emissions by 202 MTCE and save $34,589 annually. 鈥淚 call that a win-win situation,鈥� Rasmussen says. Including materials and labor, the project will break even in just 15.2 months.

Some 乐播传媒 buildings still await the Rasmussen treatment. In those cases, he uses the old-school methods. 鈥淚鈥檒l look for open windows when I walk around campus,鈥� and occasionally stop in when he sees one.

鈥淚鈥檒l say that I know the room can get very warm, but please, for gosh sakes, remember to shut the windows when you leave.鈥�

Additional reporting by Stevie Jones / Gemini Connections.

The 乐播传媒 art museum is closed during summer 2013 for the replacement of its old halogen lights (shown in this image of Fransje Killaars’ 2013 exhibition “Color at the Center”) with energy-saving LEDs.

The 乐播传媒 College Museum of Art is closed for the summer for the installation of a state-of-the-art (so to speak) lighting system.

New LED lighting will dramatically cut the museum’s electrical consumption, because LEDs not only use less electricity than the museum’s current halogen lights, but run much cooler, reducing the air conditioning burden.

Other benefits will directly affect the experience of viewing art in the 27-year-old museum, explains director Dan Mills. For one, the new fixtures afford more flexibility in aiming and shaping the projected light. “We’ll have a menu of lighting solutions that we can apply to our artworks and exhibitions,” Mills says.

The new system will also protect artwork. For one thing, the LEDs don’t emit ultraviolet light, which can degrade artwork. They can be dimmed without changing the color of the light, which will enable the museum to display light-sensitive works more effectively under reduced lighting.

A far cry from the feeble red light-emitting diodes of the 1970s and ’80s, today’s LEDs “are a technology that has evolved significantly in recent years,” Mills says.

Totaling more than 100 fixtures, the new lights will be installed in exhibition areas on both floors of the museum, located in 乐播传媒’ Olin Arts Center, on Russell Street.

The system will cut electrical consumption by 60 percent just for running the lights, with additional savings in climate control. Though LEDs cost more up front than other lighting systems, they pay for themselves relatively quickly through energy conservation.

The LED units are made by Lighting Services Inc. of Stony Point, N.Y.

The units are not base fixtures with replaceable bulbs like halogen or incandescent lights, but instead come as single integrated pieces. They have a life expectancy of at least 17 years, Mills says. Such longevity will spare museum staff considerable trouble. In the main-floor gallery alone, bulbs in the old system failed at the rate of 10 or so per exhibition, Mills explains.

“This meant we’d have to rent a hydraulic lift a few times per show, and staff would have to go up to replace lamps. With the new system, we’ll only need the lift once per exhibition,” to aim and adjust the fixtures.

The dimming controls are “computer-controlled and very sophisticated,” he adds, “allowing us to set and closely manage manage light levels.”

The installation will require rewiring and structural work in the ceilings. At the same time, floor and wall surfaces will be replaced.

The work is estimated to total some $221,000, with the lighting work accounting for $190,000.

The museum reopens Sept. 13 with the exhibition Redefining the Multiple: 13 Japanese Printmakers.

In an effort to reduce energy consumption on campus, 乐播传媒 will be turning down the heat in buildings across campus during the winter break. The adjustments are expected to save money and reduce the college’s emissions of greenhouse gases.

With students away from Dec. 18 through Jan. 8, and many staff and faculty members also absent for much of that time, most campus facilities will be used minimally or not at all.聽 Heating and lighting unoccupied spaces beyond required safety levels is wasteful.

乐播传媒 will minimize such waste by reducing temperatures throughout campus where possible. Buildings that will have be occupied during the break, for example by international students who stay on campus through the break, will be maintained at an average of 65 degrees F.

Unoccupied buildings will be heated only to 55 degrees.

Staff members will monitor buildings to ensure that they don’t fall below the designated temperatures.

Members of the 乐播传媒 community have worked together over the last two years to identify and implement ways to reduce the waste of energy on campus, driven by concerns about cost and the college’s our environmental footprint.

The college’s Committee on Environmental Responsibility and Energy Task Force estimate that the curtailment program will save in excess of $50,000 over the break.

Setting back temperatures will require the cooperation and attention of all parties involved. Before you leave for the holidays please make sure your windows are closed and your thermostat is turned down (if applicable).

A table that identifies targeted temperature levels for each building over the upcoming break period and the dates for the curtailment can be found here.

As the table indicates, most academic and administrative buildings will experience normal temperatures except for the period when they are expected to be unoccupied (Dec. 24-Jan. 2).

As most employees aren’t expected to work during this period,聽 those who will be on the job are asked to dress accordingly. Heating systems will not be adjusted on an individual basis. Please refrain from using space heaters if possible as they are extremely inefficient and greatly increase the risk of fire.

Students required to be on campus over break, as well as those with permission from the Dean of Students office, will be housed according to the plan.聽 The Housing Office has finalized these residences and will be in touch with each student who has permission to stay.聽 All other residential housing will be deemed unoccupied and temperatures will be reduced accordingly.

Facility Services plans to convert all buildings back to their normal temperatures one day prior to occupancy:聽 Jan. 2, 2011, for academic and administrative buildings, and Jan. 8 for all residential housing. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a member of the Committee on Environmental Responsibility.

The Energy Task Force and the Committee on Environmental Responsibility have completed significant projects to improve energy efficiency and encourage conservation. In fiscal year 2010 the college was able to reduce consumption by 9 percent, resulting in more than $450,000 in energy savings.

In fiscal year 2011, utility expenses are budgeted at approximately $4 million, representing one of the single largest college expenditures both financially (roughly 4.3 percent of the total budget) and environmentally (more than 85 percent of 乐播传媒’ greenhouse gas emissions).