Climate & Energy

Academic Year 2011-2012

Academic Year 2010-2011

Duke University Greening Initiative (DUGI)

In an effort to build off of last year's goals and to further Duke's Climate Action Plan, the Energy and Water Committee has been focusing on initiating energy and water reduction campaigns on campus. We are specifically targeting the Sanford School of Public Policy, Fuqua Business School, and the Law School.  So far, Energy and Water Committee members have met with Duke's Energy Manager, Steve Palumbo, to set the stage for acquiring baseline energy and water usage data from all three graduate schools highlighted above.  During the months of February and March we will be reaching out to both the student councils and environmental/energy groups at each of the three graduate schools. This communication will help us better grasp the school-specific areas to target for reducing energy and water use, the feasibility of different energy reduction campaigns, and the most effective forms of student communication. Once this information is gathered, we will initiate various campaign strategies at Fuqua, Sanford, and Law, and use weekly energy and water meter readings to assess effectiveness.

SSL Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (C2E2) - Fall 2010:
The C2E2 group seeks to educate students, staff, and faculty about the ways they can reduce their energy and water consumption on campus and influence personal behavioral changes that result in reduced energy and water consumption, which will help Duke reach their goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2024.
Signage Campaign: The focus of C2E2 is to follow-up with the signage campaign that was started last year by the same group, which entails designing, posting and measuring the impact of signs that encourage sustainable behavior in both dorms and in academic buildings. For example, we have signs that ask students to turn off the lights, print double sided, take the stairs, etc.
Evaluation: C2E2 plans to measure satisfaction and effectiveness (energy savings through behavior change) of the signs by conducting and analyzing pre and post surveys for both the academic and dorm buildings, as well as looking at energy, gas and water bills to compare energy use before and after the signs were installed.
Website & Outreach: Further outreach will be conducted by creating a website focused on the signage campaign, creating further awareness of the signs. This entails taking pictures of the signs, adding results of the research, and doing a video blog of what students, faculty, and staff are doing on campus to reduce their impact in order to promote the campaign and raise further awareness.

SSL Eco-Reps Program - Fall 2010:
The Eco-Reps Program is designed to help freshmen in East Campus dorms take responsibility for living sustainably. Each dorm will have one to three Eco-Reps, who will work together to promote sustainability in the dorm. A pilot of this program was initiated last year in one dorm, and ten of the fourteen dorms are involved this year.
Projects: All Eco-Reps will be required to perform a series of projects in their dorms. They will begin by completing a simple checklist of recycling bins, sustainability signs, and dual-flush toilets. This will be followed up by auditing a select number of rooms in the dorm, evaluating them based on their energy efficiency and providing eco-friendly incentives to participating students. Over the course of the year, Eco-Reps will be expected to provide their dorm-mates with a "Tip of the Week" on sustainable living. Eco-Reps also can contribute ideas of their own and act on them accordingly.
Evaluation: The success of the Eco-Reps Program will be evaluated in three ways. First, feedback from the Eco-Reps themselves will provide an indication of how well the students in their dorms are responding to their efforts. Second, an online survey will be sent to the participating dorms to determine how much the students have learned. Finally, the dorm room audits performed by the Eco-Reps will show how "green" the rooms are.

EA Energy Reduction and Awareness Campaign - Fall 2010:
The goal of this campaign is to reduce energy consumption on two ends: from a facility management perspective (installing CFLs, motion detectors, etc.) and from a usage perspective (educating students, facutly and staff about simple ways to reduce their energy consumption).
Projects: This year the group will focus on two projects: (1) working to install motion detectors in bathrooms throughout campus (dorm and academic buildings), starting with a select group for a pilot and measuring subsequent energy savings; (2) holding a large Earth Hour celebration the last Saturday in March.

Academic Year 2009-2010

Duke University Greening Initiative Fall 2009 Update:

The DUGI Energy/Water Committee has been focusing on initiatives that will help bolster and expedite Duke's Climate Action Plan (CAP).  Duke's CAP was approved by the Board of Trustees in October of 2009, with the goal of climate neutrality by 2024 (45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, with the remaining 55% reduction through local offsets).  We believe that the potential for the most immediate and cost-effective energy improvements could come from increased energy efficiency on campus.  To that end, we have been meeting with various Facilities Management staff members to learn more about how Graduate programs/departments at Duke are billed for their energy usage.  We believe that it will incentivize reductions in energy consumption if all schools/departments are required to pay for their actual energy usage (as most Grad schools at Duke are), as opposed to the charging based on square footage occupied (as the Nicholas School is charged).  We also believe that if data on building's energy usage is improved and made readily available, that it will help drive behavioral change and pinpoint areas for improvement.  We have been meeting with representatives of companies that provide real-time energy and water usage data for buildings via online dashboards (and in some cases kiosks).  We will be making recommendations regarding which technology we think would be best for Duke and possibly applying for grant money to install the technology during the Spring semester.

SSL Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Spring 2010 Update:

The C2E2 group seeks to increase student, staff, and faculty awareness of energy and climate via outreach activities.  To reach students, we wish to implement a pilot "green dorm," a model sustainable living space that will be open for tours to prospective students and their families, as well as members of the Duke community.  Space issues mean that the green dorm room would only be available during the summer, so we also wish to "green" several common areas.  We are also currently collaborating with the Campus Sustainability Committee Communications subcommittee to design and install behavior-changing signs at key decision points across campus.  Finally, we are measuring the success of our campaigns via student surveys regarding our impact.

Environmental Alliance Climate Change and Energy Policy Campaign

Our goal is to educate students about, and build support for, the current congressional climate and energy legislation. We want to be a resource for students aiming to better understand the science and policy issues of climate change. We're currently asking students and student groups to write letters to the North Carolina Senators in support of the legislation, and we plan to hold an event focused on climate change and energy issues this semester. Campaign coordinator: Will Bierbower (will.bierbower@duke.edu).

Trinity College Science Building Energy Conservation Committee

Our charge is to reduce the use of energy and water by the science buildings within Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.  The committee is made up of faculty and staff from the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physics,  Arts and Sciences Facilities and Facilities Management.  Our initial focus is on the French Family Science Center with current projects involving temperature control, fume hood use and lighting use.  Committee Chair: Randy Smith (rrsmith@duke.edu).