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WEDNESDAY, FEB. 29 EAGLE NEWS NEWS A5
G_pj`ZXc gcXek Zfej\im\j# jXm\j 9p A\eep N`cc`Xdjfe JkX]] ni`k\i Going green can keep more green in your wallet — or in the case of the physical plant, save funds for the university. Megan Barr and Irma Sanchez, both of whom are part of the plant operations and maintenance team, are proud of how the sustainable initiatives their department has taken have saved the campus money as well. The campus chiller plants are the most effective cost-cutting measure in terms of energy dollars spent. Chiller plant tanks are active primarily during off-peak hours — the hours when Florida Power & Light (FPL) charges significantly less for energy use. During peak hours, chilled water from the plant assists in efficiently cooling connected buildings. “We save around $150,000 a year just because we are running our chiller plant efficiently and doing the most energy expenditure during off-peak hours for FPL,”
FGCU Sustainable
Barr said. Another sustainable concept, conserving water, also saves money. In the past two years, toilets in several buildings haveSustainable been retrofit with dual-flush handles meant to limit the amount of water, and funds, that get flushed down the drain. The physical plant has also readjusted the timers on restroom sinks. Barr told Eagle News, “Some of the buildings are way down, which is fantastic. We’ve some of them that we’ve actually significantly decreased the amount of water we’re using.” “Just from the awareness campaigns that we’ve done, including Recyclemania, we’ve seen a drastic decrease in garbage pickup,” Barr said.
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During the first Recyclemania, student volunteers reported underutilized trash receptacles to the physical plant. As a result of increased recycling, solid waste dropped. “In certain places on campus we actually had smaller Dumpsters installed to save money because certain buildings had 5- or 10yard Dumpsters and they didn’t need them so they went down to a 2-yard Dumpster,” Barr said. “They still get picked up the same amount each week but this way since the Dumpster is smaller, the price is lower.” Sanchez explained the cost savings of recyclables versus solid waste. “There’s no charge for the disposal of recyclable materials,” she said. But for trash “they charge us for the container per month, to haul it, and to dispose of it, per ton. Three different fees.” In addition to chiller plant operations, dualflush toilets and Recyclemania, the physical plant has been replacing light bulbs with more efficient ones and retrofitting rooms with sensors that turn off lights automatically when
the room is empty. These combined measures have paid off. Since fall 2009, FGCU has added three buildings to the academic core area — Academic Building 7, Parking Garage 3 and Music. The number of enrolled students has risen by almost 16 percent while the number of faculty and staff has risen by approximately 11 percent. In spite of the growth, energy usage has only increased by two percent. When savings from the solar field are factored in, the average of total monthly FPL bills for academic core has dropped by more than three cents per dollar. “We have little tips we use for the people in here. If you’re going to be gone longer than 15 minutes, turn off your monitor. If you’re going to be gone longer than an hour, turn off your computer,” Barr said. “When you’re at work, you don’t think about how you can save the university money. I mean, we do, but that’s kind of the business we’re in here.”
Jkl[\ek i\Z\`m\j Xggi\Z`Xk`fe ]fi n`cc`e^e\jj kf _\cg 9p <X^c\ E\nj jkX]] The University Police department presented Theresa Knight, a resident assistant in North Lake Village, a letter of appreciation for her “good citizen” reactions to a car crash on campus earlier this month. On Feb. 6 at approximately midnight there was a single-vehicle crash on FGCU Lake Parkway West and Ben Hill Griffin Parkway in which the vehicle flipped over. Knight witnessed the event and pulled over to help. She was returning home to the dorms in NLV. “I was more worried about what would happen to them. I have had my own personal car accident and it would have helped me a lot to have a person there,”
she said. Knight stopped her vehicle, assisted the occupants and waited until emergency medical service and UPD arrived. “To go above and beyond, she stuck around assisting the passenger in gathering her belongings from the vehicle and assisted me (Chief Moore) … Then she gave the passenger a ride back to her dorm,” UPD Sgt. Brian Jones said. “Me and her talk now. I followed up to make sure she is OK. That’s the type of person I am,” Knight said. “Although she was in front of the vehicle and had every opportunity to continue on her way home as some would have, she didn’t,” Jones said.
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