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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES
Practicing 'best practices'
Group works to conserve energy
Harvard News Office
Dual concerns about Harvard's environmental impact and skyrocketing energy costs have prompted facilities managers across the University to come together monthly to share thoughts, tips, and techniques for making Harvard buildings energy efficient.
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| Staff illustration Georgia Bellas/Harvard News Office |
The Utilities and Maintenance Focus Group, which was initiated by Harvard Real Estate Services, began meeting in January with representatives of University Operations Services, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Law School, the Business School, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Real Estate Services, and the Harvard Green Campus Initiative.
"We're getting green, and everybody's looking to save energy with the rates going up," said Larry McNeil, manager of mechanical and structural maintenance for FAS Physical Resources, who helped start the group and who recently moved to FAS from Harvard Real Estate Services (HRES).
Together, group members share what are collectively termed "best practices" and listen to presentations from invited speakers. The group recently completed a best practices flier that has been distributed to building managers in members' Schools and organizations. The fliers remind building users to take such commonsense steps as turning off lights when not in use and suggests several ideas for managers, from maximizing the use of energy rebates to eliminating leaks in heating and cooling systems and encouraging the use of energy-efficient equipment.
"This is a [group] of facilities people learning from each other," said John Halloran, senior facilities manager at Harvard Law School. "I've been here for 15 years, and this is the first time we've gotten together [from different schools] to learn."
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The group was formed at a time of great change in the University's energy consumption picture. Harvard's Green Campus Initiative is pushing to make the University as energy efficient as possible at the same time as Harvard itself is undergoing enormous growth, with more on the way.
Mary Smith, energy strategist for University Operations Services and a member of the group, said Harvard's energy picture in recent years has been one of increasing efficiency, but also of increasing overall consumption. At Peabody Terrace, for example, work done on a steam trap to make steam used in heating more efficient is expected to save $100,000 annually. Similarly, a lighting retrofit in the community spaces is expected to save $9,000 in annual electricity costs. A switch to more efficient water pumps, complete with variable speeds to operate only as fast as demand requires, is expected to save $14,000 in electric costs.
"This [the group] is a great opportunity to bring people together," Smith said. "It's a great opportunity to tell people what's going on in my area and to get an understanding of what's going on in other areas."
At Harvard Real Estate Services, University and Commercial, McNeil said conservation efforts saved $150,000 on natural gas in seven buildings from 2003 to 2004 and $582,700 in electric costs in five buildings. At all of HRES University and commercial buildings in Cambridge, there was no rise in cost from 2004 to 2005 because of conservation measures.
Smith said Harvard's overall energy footprint is enormous, with the Cambridge and Allston campuses together using more electricity than the town of Belmont. Along with that great size, and with the ongoing construction, comes the opportunity to capture savings.
"Our overall numbers are going up, but on an individual building basis, they're not going up as much as they would without these measures," Smith said.
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