LiveGreen: Time to pay the pie-per

As predicted, it was another hot and humid summer, forcing the campus into “energy curtailment” for numerous days. July was particularly brutal. We saw heat indexes hit the 115 degree mark and there were only three business days in which we weren’t in curtailment.

Melanie Stewart	Ali S. Khan, M.D., M.P.H.

The upside to this weather is that it gave colleagues and students plenty of opportunities to demonstrate energy saving actions and vote to pie a campus leader invested in sustainability.

While curtailment actions can seem insignificant, they really add up. Turning off one light, closing one window shade or taking one trip up the stairs, instead of using the elevator, is magnified when it’s done by many on a campus of this size.

Paul Baltes	Frank Venuto

We know we can’t meet our energy goals without your help, so we appreciate you taking the time to do these simple tasks.

In addition to the weather, we also opened three new buildings in the past year which are fully occupied and using energy as well, so we knew it was going to be tough. The personnel in the utility plant and energy group worked hard to keep the systems efficient and operational — and you were great at performing those small actions this summer. Thank you!

Ken Hansen	Bill Lawlor

While performing those actions, you also had the opportunity to vote for a member of the Executive Sustainability Council to pie and a chance to be the pie thrower. Summer is winding down, so it’s time to settle up:

• Who: Ken Hansen, Ali S. Khan, M.D., M.P.H., Paul Baltes, Frank Venuto, Bill Lawlor, and Melanie Stewart
• What: Are getting pied in the face by some energy-conserving colleagues
• When: Noon on Friday, Sept. 29
• Where: Ruth & Bill Scott Student Plaza green space (by the ice rink)
• Why: To celebrate your efforts in saving energy and resources and have fun

We hope you come celebrate with us. Bring your lunch, enjoy the (hopefully) fall-like weather on a Friday, and have a good laugh. We’ll be out there rain or shine.