A water conservation program at the University of Colorado at Boulder will result in savings of 66 million gallons of treated water when all parts of the plan are implemented this year.
The annual water conservation includes 8.75 million gallons of treated water saved at Folsom Field and other athletic fields, 36 million gallons from three building conservation projects and 21 million gallons at the campus powerhouse, said Robin Newsome-Suitts, chair of the Campus Resource Conservation Committee.
"The combined reduction in use of potable water from all of the projects comes to 15 percent of CU-Boulder's treated water usage," said Newsome-Suitts. The yearly dollar savings to the campus is estimated at $259,000.
Installation of a closed-loop network of piping in several buildings to cool research equipment is boosting water conservation in addition to the outdoor irrigation savings. A closed-loop network of piping in the campus powerhouse installed last summer to cool equipment and recycle water will conserve 21 million gallons of water annually, said Newsome-Suitts.
Likewise, closed-loop piping now being installed in the Porter Biosciences Building will save 1 million gallons of water, and a similar system for the JILA building will save 25 million gallons of water once installed.
In the Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry Building, a system of water-driven aspirators will be replaced with special lab vacuum pumps to conserve 10 million gallons annually.
The water conservation push is part of a campuswide energy and resource conservation program launched by CU-Boulder. The energy conservation portion of the campaign features 15,000 stickers on light switches throughout campus and also has generated substantial energy savings. The stickers, along with new lighting technology, have resulted in solid energy savings in Regent Hall, Norlin Library and other buildings. The stickers read, 'When not in use, turn off the juice.'
"The stickers remind staff to turn out the lights when they leave the room," said Newsome-Suitts. "That practice, coupled with delamping by Facilities Management staff led us to an average savings of 23 percent in Regent Hall over the last four months of 2002." Delamping reduces the number of bulbs lit while providing less bright, but adequate, lighting.
In Regent Hall, the energy savings for September through December were 43,000 kilowatt hours annually. The dollar savings to the campus comes to $22,000.
Moe Tabrizi, CU-Boulder's energy conservation officer, said, "We are very pleased with the early savings that several of our water and energy conservation measures have produced and we hope to replicate these savings in energy and corresponding energy costs throughout the campus.
"In Norlin Library, where new ballasts and T-8 lamps were installed in the first half of 2002 throughout the building, a 15 percent monthly energy use reduction has been recorded from September through December 2002," said Tabrizi. Since the lighting upgrade project began, Norlin Library is conserving 80,000 kilowatt hours annually, for a dollar savings of $42,000.Ìý
CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard L. Byyny said, "Research about our environment, our effects upon it, the drought and budget woes have all heightened our awareness of the need to conserve.
"As a campus, we will continue to identify ways in which we can act responsibly with our resources."
The conservation campaign includes an energy conservation hotline, where students, faculty and staff can help in the effort by reporting energy waste on the campus at energyconservationhotline@fm.colorado.edu or by calling (303) 735-6202. A program to enable all 18,000 computer monitors on campus with sleep mode is another part of the campaign.
For more information go to the energy conservation Web site at .
Energy Conservation Facts
CU-Boulder campus
* Treated water is no longer used on Folsom Field following a switch to untreated ditch water in fall 2002. A portion of the football practice fields north of the stadium also was converted to artificial turf, saving close to 1 million gallons of water annually. Potts and Prentup fields on the east campus also have been converted to untreated ditch water. The combined savings of treated water by the Athletics Department is 8.75 million gallons per year for a dollar savings of $35,000.
* A new closed-loop network of piping to cool equipment in the campus powerhouse installed last July is conserving 21 million gallons of water for a dollar savings of $80,000 annually.
* Water conservation projects in three campus buildings will save $144,000 annually.
* One of the three building water-conservation projects is being reviewed for approval and installation in 2003 and will save CU-Boulder $100,000 annually. That project will conserve 25 million gallons of water a year in the JILA building with the installation of a new closed-loop piping network to cool laser generators.
* A second closed-loop piping project in the Porter Biosciences Building to cool research microscopes is now being installed and will save $4,000 a year.Ìý
* A third project will replace water-driven aspirators with special lab vacuum pumps to conserve water. The estimated water savings from that project, to be installed in the Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry Building, is 10 million gallons and $40,000 annually.
* In Norlin Library, where new ballasts and T-8 lamps were installed in the first half of 2002, a 15 percent monthly energy use reduction has been recorded from September through December 2002. The same changes were made throughout Regent Hall, the main administrative building on campus, resulting in a 23 percent reduction of energy use.
* Since the lighting changes in Norlin Library, the library is conserving 80,000 kilowatt hours annually, saving $42,000 annually. Lighting conservation in Norlin has lowered CO2 emissions by 100,000 pounds annually.Ìý
* In Regent Hall, savings total 43,000 kilowatt hours annually and $22,000. CO2 reductions due to conservation in Regent Hall total 57,000 pounds annually.
* The Campus Resources Conservation Committee began meeting in 2001 to consider conservation "as a way to be fiscally responsible to CU-Boulder students and to the state by trying to save money on energy costs to maximize funds for education," said Robin Newsome-Suitts, chair of the Campus Resource Conservation Committee.