The Utah Statesman

Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: Campus News

USU joined 141 other universities in committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after President Albrecht signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

USU President Stan Albrecht has signed a sustainability initiative that commits the university to take steps to reduce and eventually neutralize its greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to help combat global warming.

USU joined 141 other universities nationwide in becoming a signatory to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which is seeking the pledge of 200 universities by June and 1,000 by 2009. The university will now need to determine what its emissions are and what can be done to neutralize them.

In December a USU Sustainability Council comprised of faculty, staff, students and a community liaison was formed to develop the new sustainability initiatives. Lori Selby, the executive director of administration and Sustainability Council chair, said the council's first goal is to draft a comprehensive sustainability policy that can direct the university for the coming decades.

Even before the signing of the President's Climate Commitment, the university had already undertaken several projects to improve its energy efficiency, but Ben Berrett, the director of facilities operations, said there is still room for improvement, especially in facilities.

"We'll probably be doing most of it because we're the ones that burn most of the greenhouse gases," Berrett said.

Berrett said things like updating lighting systems to be more energy-efficient can cut down on the university's emission of greenhouse gases, and costs are paid back within three to five years. He said just updating the engineering building's lights to a more efficient model saves 296,205 kilowatt hours, or approximately $21,000 per year.

"I think the important thing is that saving energy saves greenhouse gases, so anytime we cut our use of electricity or natural gas, that's going to improve it," Berrett said.

Berrett said a retro-commissioning process team has been replacing old thermostats with digital ones to allow for better control of temperature in buildings. The team is also rebalancing air systems and hot-water heaters, and using thermal imaging technology to detect cracks and leaks in buildings.

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