The Office of Sustainability is pushing initiatives to reduce energy usage on campus and students are responding. This response has the potential to start new trends in the way students continue to live. The Office of Sustainability projects if students can cut 5 percent of their usage, they can save the University money. While this is hopeful in light of budget cuts, this also opens up the University to allocate the money to green projects that can provide further cost benefits.
Although another budget cut is coming, the University should look to honoring its mission to fulfill its Performance Contracts with Cox, Poe, Tompkins, College of Textiles, the McKimmon Center, Carmichael Gym, Research I, and six other buildings. Some of these buildings account for the largest and most energy costly at N.C. State. By putting this money towards increasing their energy efficiency, by changing their windows, and independence, with solar panels for example, the University can further cut costs over a period of time.
Student Government laid out a plan for themselves, students and the University to follow to improve green initiatives in 2009. It called for education and collaboration between faculty, Waste Management and the Office of Sustainability. While these programs are well meant, having money to fund some initiatives and projects will help all groups involved benefit and learn about how to further students and the University’s goals.
The reduced cost in powering buildings won’t make as big as difference when the networking technologies are improved. As students become more and more connected to the Internet, the University must expand its networking and IT capabilities. This will call for more energy-consuming technologies. The University has made stride to suggest joining CANARIE Green-IT project and the Green Grid. Being a part of these groups, the Office of Information Technology can use the tools they offer to assess their energy usage and work with the College of Engineering to address the problems that come with increasing IT infrastructure.
Students show the University every day they support green initiatives by recycling and being conscious of their energy usage. As students achieve this goal, it will be the University’s turn to take the students’ investment and put it back into programs that will grow in the future. This will show the residents of North Carolina that their investment into N.C. State is supporting green initiatives. The University should continue to think of investments into green technologies as an investment in future allocations.
