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   from the issue of October 5, 2006

     
 
  Chancellor urges need to save energy

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Harvey Perlman, chancellor, issued this message on the need to cut energy use in a campuswide e-mail on Sept. 25. Faculty and staff can e-mail energy saving ideas to energysavings@unl.edu.


Dear Colleagues,


While we have a lot of good news this year, we also have some challenges.

One is the continuing threat to our budgets by energy consumption. Right now we project expenses of $20 million for this year's utilities. This estimate is $5.8 million more than our budget. Unless something changes, i.e., consumption goes down, the legislature provides additional funding, or we return to legal pads and give up our computers, these costs will have to be covered from other budget categories.

Thanks to your cooperation, we were able to save $925,000 last year as a result of some simple strategies, including turning off the air handlers in many buildings at nights and over the weekends. I know some of you have sought further exemptions from this procedure, but the challenges we face are larger than last year and we again ask your indulgence.

Our research has projected that additional simple steps could result in significant savings. Some of these are the product of habits that we all formed when computer technology was different than it is today. We believe the following steps would provide significant savings if you would all conform.

First, shut off your computer when you go home for the day. There are myths that suggest that turning your computer off and on uses more energy or somehow takes life away from your hard drive. These are no longer true as far as we can determine. If the 20,000 computers on campus are turned off when their user leaves work we will save a considerable amount of money.

Second, get rid of your screen savers. At one point these helped protect screens from burning, but almost all computers now have their own internal sleep mode which saves energy. Using a screen saver prevents the sleep mode from operating and thus consumes more energy. So please, delete your screen saver, and if your computer does not go into sleep mode, set it or have someone set it to go to sleep for you. Directions for doing this are at http://scs.unl.edu/standards/energy.shtml. I know we will all miss the alpine skiing scenes or the Go Husker animated stadium, or the floating text message that says "Keep your hands off my computer" but, to my surprise, these harmless programs are costing us considerable money and jeopardizing programs and jobs.

Of course, the other normal ways to save energy continue to be important, i.e., turning off lights, keeping internal temperatures reasonable (recognizing that in some buildings this is out of any of our control), and avoiding unnecessary appliances. Fume hoods are another source of energy consumption, and keeping the sash closed when not in use saves energy.

I would appreciate you taking extra steps this year to be energy conscious. If you do, I promise we won't put up on the web again that goofy picture of me turning off the lights! Many thanks.


Harvey Perlman, Chancellor


GO TO: ISSUE OF OCTOBER 5

NEWS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 5

Research on call
Construction begins on new virology center
Damuth helps guide undergrads toward prominent scholarships
Ghormley doll quilts on display through March
Stitched in history
Faculty respond favorably to General Education objectives
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