Written Research Paper Electricity Waste in University

It is known that today many people do not pay attention to the fact how much they are wasting in electricity each day. Only a monthly bill gives an opportunity to evaluate the electricity waste to the full extent. However, electricity plays an important role in the life of any individual. That is why it is wrong to waste electricity heedlessly. It is known that electricity has the major goal – to power up different appliances or items that should use energy. In most cases, dwelling houses do not waste much in electricity; however various indoor public places, including schools, colleges, universities consume a lot of electricity in the course of the day. According to the statistical data, represented by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the electricity use in the United States in 2011 was “more than 13 times greater than electricity use in 1950” (Electricity Explained, Use of Electricity). Besides, it is found that today electricity demand, which depends on such factors as business cycles, weather conditions, and prices, is constantly growing – “by 0.8% per year through 2035” (Electricity Explained, Use of Electricity). It means that in many public places, electricity waste is too high. Electricity waste in universities is extremely high that is why it is required to find the appropriate methods to conserve energy.

Today many universities and colleges in the USA and in other countries of the world are concerned about electricity waste. New Castle University is one of the higher educational institutions which discuss the issue concerning the use of electricity in the campus. The university officials admit that the university wastes too much in electricity. They say, “It almost goes without saying but we waste a lot of electricity on campus” (Estate Support Service). The statistical data represented by the officials of the university proves the fact that electricity waste is rather high in the campus. It is reported that over the last 10 years the use of electricity in the campus has risen by about 30% because of the intensive use of new technologies, such as computers, air conditioning systems, refrigerators, lighting, powering appliances, and space/water heating installations. The University tries to solve this problem by means of specially developed programs. Switch off campaign helps to control the amount of electricity used in the campus (Estate Support Service). The developers of this program state that “simple good housekeeping can reduce the overall use of energy by 10%.” (Estate Support Service).

In the University of Colorado, the faculty and staff have developed the CU Green Labs Program which uses a so-called team approach in order to minimize not only the use of energy, but also the use of water and material goods in the laboratories of the university without compromising safety and research integrity. The additional conservation efforts help to reduce electricity waste (CU Green Labs Program).

In Cypress College the problem of electricity waste is an acute one. Albert Miranda, the director of the Cypress Physical Plant tries to explain the significance of energy conservation in colleges and universities. He states that “the electricity the college used is about 225,000 KWH per week which adds to the grand total of 12,000,000 KWH per year. 30% of electricity goes to lights within the school and approximately 70% energized other things such as, fans, chillers, motors, and large pumps within the campus” (Cheng). Among the methods to conserve energy in the college are “replacing large and aged mechanical equipment that is no longer efficient and has outlived its life expectancy”, to provide fine tuning and monitoring newer existing controls and equipment to make sure they continue to perform as they were designed and specified, to provide training of all students, faculty and staff members and educate them to participate in energy conservation programs (Cheng). It is found that the college does not pay for the electricity it uses; the district office of the physical plant pays approximately $900,000 for the electricity used by the college.



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