Conservation
Conservation must be the cornerstone of any greenhouse gas reduction plan. While conservation projects require capital investment, staff time, education and active campus participation, such projects have several key advantages. First, the education and campus participation that conservation requires helps to foster a culture of sustainability, and that culture will have more important impacts than any individual project. Second, as the cost of fossil fuels and demand for cleaner energy increase, the costs of some other emissions reduction strategies (most notably cleaner fuels and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are likely to increase. At the same time, the operational savings yielded by conservation projects are also likely to increase, making conservation an even wiser long-term investment.Some conservation projects require education and changes in behavior. Many such projects are simple, but require individual action from many campus members. For example:
- A "phantom load" is electricity used by plug-in devices that draw power even when off (such as cell phone and iPod chargers, and devices with clocks such as VCRs and microwaves). Nationally, phantom loads make up about six percent of electricity used. Simply plugging such devices in to a power strip and turning off the strip conserves that energy.
- Years ago computers could be damaged by the initial surge of power when they were turned on, so conventional advice at the time was to leave computers on constantly. Modern computers have improved to the point where start-up wear-and-tear is minimal, and they can be turned off when not being used without fear of damaging them. Unfortunately, many members of the campus community still leave their computers on at night or when they aren't needed during the day. Further education is needed to change that behavior.