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Allison Anderson
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Electricity
Educate others on energy conservation & curtailment
It's important that the whole med center community participates in energy conservation. So, share tips, news articles, and even the Ecochallenge with others to promote energy conservation this summer!
Electricity
Learn more about the med center’s energy curtailment strategies
Check out the Office of Sustainability’s newest articles about Energy Curtailment at the med center on the TODAY and NOW.
Buildings
Take the stairs, if possible
If you are capable of taking the stairs in buildings with elevators, consider doing so to save elevator space and energy for guests. This action saves energy and promotes wellness across campus.
Buildings
Open doors manually, if able
When entering and exiting buildings, you can help save energy by opening doors manually rather than using automatic opening buttons if you do not need to.
Buildings
Close blinds, shades, and curtains on hot days
On hot days, please help keep building temperatures low by closing blinds, shades, and curtains, especially those that receive direct sunlight. These simple actions can reduce heat gains by as much as 33%!
Electricity
Shut the fume hood sash
A fume hood sash is a see-through panel that moves up and down to allow access into the fume hood. Although fume hoods are very important for the lab, they use A LOT of energy. Shutting the fume hood sash when not in use can save the amount of energy that 3.5 homes use each day!
Electricity
Flip the Switch! Turn off lights in empty areas
When you leave the room or see an empty area, turn off the lights! This simple task can reduce energy consumption. If everybody turned the lights off in unoccupied rooms when they left, the med center could save more than $100,000 per year!
Participant Feed
Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.
To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?
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Allison Anderson 6/26/2024 12:12 PM
Join us in helping the Med Center with Energy Curtailment!Many of you have likely heard of "energy curtailment," a practice where colleagues and students are asked to help the campus by reducing energy usage on days when high heat and humidity put extra stress on our energy systems.
By using less energy on these days, we can:- Ensure the continuity of essential systems for critical hospital and research functions.
- Save money both now (by reducing consumption) and in the future, as next year's electrical rate is based on our peak usage at any given time.
- Improve the health of the entire community.
- Reduce pollution.
We will be initiating curtailment from Monday, June 25, through Tuesday, June 25.For a detailed explanation, please visit the Energy Curtailment page. However, we are pleased to inform you that you should no longer feel excessively cold in your office. While it may still feel cool when you first walk in, the discomfort experienced in the past should be minimized.
In previous curtailments, many of you felt cold. It seemed counterintuitive that saving energy resulted in colder spaces during hot weather. This was because producing heat in hot conditions is inefficient, and by avoiding this, some spaces felt cooler.
Thanks to updated technology, spaces no longer need to be pre-cooled to such low temperatures to achieve energy savings. Consequently, your space will likely be warmer in the afternoon. For example, instead of finding your space at 67 degrees in the morning, it may be at 70 degrees. In the afternoon, it could rise from 72 degrees to 75 degrees.
This new approach not only mirrors what typically happens in residential settings but also aligns with your feedback. You expressed a preference for a slightly warmer environment, and we are happy to accommodate this.
The Med Center has a temperature range to maintain. Please call 2-3347 (Nebraska Medicine) or 9-4050 (UNMC) if your space is colder than 66 degrees or warmer than 78 degrees. Patient care and research spaces are not affected by energy curtailment.