FM employees are always looking for ways to create a greener campus. How can we plug you in? The University is committed to reduce annual energy usage five percent by the end of 2010. A five percent reduction will save the University $2.25 million each year and result in 25,000 fewer tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Meeting this ambitious goal requires a campus-wide effort and a commitment from each of us.
The It All Adds Up campaign is designed to enlist the campus community in conserving energy. It centers around an energy pledge which asks students, faculty and staff to commit to energy saving measures while on campus. The goal is to collect 10,000 pledges by the end of the fall semester and demonstrate the University of Minnesota’s commitment to saving energy and money.
We have had a tremendous response to date. In September the class of 2013 submitted 1,200 pledges to drive us past the 6,500 pledge mark. I am asking you to take the pledge and encourage your coworkers to take it by October 30. The pledge can be found at www.umn.edu/italladdsup.
Most of the pledge items are second nature to anyone who pays a monthly energy bill at home, but on campus they can be easily forgotten. Below are the seven items that comprise the It All Adds Up energy pledge:
- Power down my computer at night and over the weekends.
- Turn off my lights when I’ll be out of the room for more than 10 minutes.
- Unplug my cell-phone charger or other appliances that draw “vampire” power.
- Avoid the use of space heaters or personal fans. Instead, I’ll dress for the weather—an extra layer in winter and lighter in summer.
- Use the stairs: walk up one floor and down two to reduce use of the elevator.
- Use the handicapped entrance button only when necessary.
- Print or copy on two sides instead of one.
While these individual steps may appear small, working together 80,000 students, faculty and staff can make huge leaps in reducing emissions, cutting electrical usage and saving University resources. Please take the pledge today and remember, It All Adds Up!
Great Performance – Steam Shut Down Crew
As you’re aware, we’re experiencing one of the coldest Octobers in history. Having completed the switch to heating season, we discovered a leak in the steam pipes that serve Walter, Fraser and Johnston. That’s when our team kicked it into gear. Putting their heads together, they came up with a plan to heat up the buildings overnight. Steam was increased and the outside air return reduced so that by the time students, faculty and staff arrived the next morning the buildings were warm. As part of a back up plan we gathered space heaters to place in any problem areas. Meanwhile, steam was turned off at 6:00 a.m. Our abatement staff removed insulation from around the pipes which allowed our fitters to see the hole that developed in an elbow between the 10 inch main line and a two inch pipe. In order to minimize down time, a replacement part was fashioned while the pipe cooled down. Once the pipe could be worked on, the new part was welded into place and then steam pressure was restored. Full pressure and temperatures were realized by 7:00 p.m. We had prepared the Call Center for a deluge of calls but thanks to the actions of our team it was a fairly quiet day. Thank you all for the quick work!
Lee Loudermill – Team Manager
Brian Flaherty – Facilities Supervisor
Marty Schmidt - Abatement Foremen
Jay Denny – Associate Director, Energy Management
Jon Grimley – Senior Engineer
Gene Husted – Pipefitter Foremen
Jim Rice – Pipefitter
Tom Banks – Pipefitter
Tom Farrell - Pipefitter
Tom Ferdelman - Pipefitter
