Smith College: Physical Plant: Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY

In the past few years, the Physical Plant has made many efforts to make day-to-day operations more sustainable, as well as undertaking new projects to ensure efficient energy use long into the future. To learn what sustainability means and why it is so important, visit the Smith Green Team website.

	January 2005 Campus-wide temperature setback during winter break. During J-term, all areas with automatic temperature controls were set back an extra 5ºF. This covered 35 buildings or 1.25 million square feet. Savings were estimated at 2300 million Btu, $1400, and 190 tons of CO2.
	April 2005 The Board of Trustees approved proceeding to final design for the cogeneration plant. This $5.7 million project consists of a gas turbine generator that will make our own electricity, and a heat recovery steam generator that will augment the central heating plant's output by capturing heat normally wasted. Annual savings are estimated at $870,000 in fossil fuel and electricity, and the annual emissions reductions are estimated to be 110 tons of the compounds that cause smog and acid rain, and over 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Click here for more information about the cogeneration project.
	May 2005 Physical Plant and ITS began their effort to enable the ENERGY STAR power management features on computers connected to the Smith network. This is also known as the "Million Monitor Drive" or "Sleep Is Good" campaign. The changes to date have been small, but the potential savings are huge: 730,000 kWh (3% of Smith's total electrical use), $60,000, and 520 tons of carbon dioxide each year.
	June 2005 Smith College hired local contractor KLM to begin replacing missing or damaged insulation on the steam pipes in the tunnels and manholes. Pipe covering had been removed for service, or by weathering and age. Estimated savings are 3400 million Btu, $18,600, and 275 tons of CO2 per year.
	July 2005 The architectural built-in exit signs at John M. Greene hall were replaced. This was not a straightforward retrofit, since these signs were built into existing millwork in such an architecturally sensitive location. The existing units used two 15-watt incandescent bulbs each, and these used a tremendous amount of energy, generated excess heat, and burned out often. Custom LED kits were ordered that fit the existing signs, used just 2 watts each, and lasted 25+ years. Annual savings are projected to be 6200 kWh, $1000, and 4200 pounds of CO2.
	August 2005 In Cutter and Ziskind Halls, incandescent lights on the ground floor levels were replaced with compact fluorescent and LED. Estimated savings are 88,600 kWh, $7300, and 30 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Click here for more information about the light replacement project.
	August 2005 Smith kicked off an energy retrofit project to reduce gymnasium lighting loads by 75%. First phase of the project was Ainsworth, with ITT, Scott, and the climbing wall areas to follow. Annual savings are projected to be $50,000 and 350 tons of CO2. Click here for more information about the gym lighting retrofit project.