Funding
An initial feasibility assessment for this project revealed that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences operates in excess of 13,000 computers using about 10% of the electricity consumed within the Faculty.
Less than 40% of FAS computers were being used in the most energy efficient way, costing the Faculty $50-110 in energy costs per year per computer. A very conservative estimate of potential annual savings was calculated at $270,000, resulting in an associated greenhouse gas reduction of over 1.5 million pounds of CO2 per year. This could all be achieved by simply getting 30% more FAS students and staff to switch off computers when not in use and to activate sleep software for their monitors.
Based on these findings the Faculty of Arts and Sciences took out a Green Campus Loan to fund a three year behavioral change program with an annual budget of $105,000. This budget covered the extensive human resources, web development and associated promotional materials needed to run a thorough behavioral change campaign.
The loan funding has now expired, but CERP's initial success prompted the FAS Office of Physical Resources to fund the program for at least another year. FAS has specified that CERP should now focus its efforts on reducing energy consumption in laboratories, which are by far the most energy-intensive buildings on campus.