UCCS to reduce energy use, one office at a time.

UCCS spends more than $2 million each year on utilities. The UCCS Office of Sustainability wants to lower that number and needs the help of  every member of the campus community to succeed.

Through the Greening of the Office Program, the Office of Sustainability hopes to collaborate with faculty, staff and students in an effort to reduce the university’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Kevin Gilford, assistant director, Office of Sustainability, the program will also help the university reach the goals laid out in the 2010 UCCS Climate Action Plan.

“We’ve pledged to reduce the university’s carbon footprint 20 percent by 2020,” Gilford said. “We hope that seven percent of that reduction will come from changes in behavior around campus, like turning the office lights off or shutting down your computer at the end of the day.”

As part of the program, members of the Office of Sustainability will conduct a building-by-building green audit of departments and offices to establish benchmarks for energy reduction and to identify ways to improve employee comfort.

During the audit, faculty and staff members will be surveyed about work habits and needs.

According to Gilford, the surveys will educate faculty and staff on energy reduction while producing a better work environment.

“This program lets everyone on campus help the university become more sustainable, conserve resources and eliminate waste,” Gilford said. “It’ll also help us identify trends within the work place. Does everyone think the office is too hot or needs more light? These are important things to know and will allow us to respond more strategically.”

Once the audit is completed, the Office of Sustainability will make recommendations for improvement. While individual audits will remain private, departmental results will be posted to the Office of Sustainability website.

The Office of Sustainability will contact each department on campus to schedule a time that works best to participate in the Greening of the Office Program.

For more information about the Office of Sustainability, please visit www.uccs.edu/sustain.

The 2010 UCCS Climate Action Plan can be viewed at http://www.uccs.edu/Documents/sustain/560-cap._1.pdf.