Olivia Drake(more…)
It's one mean, green machine and it's saving Wesleyan up to $5,000 a day in energy costs. Wesleyan's new Cogeneration system - or CoGen, - uses natural gas to simultaneously generate electricity, heat and steam for university use. It began operation in February after an 18-month installation process. "Buying electricity from the grid is expensive and non-efficient,” says Peter Staye, associate director of utilities management. “With CoGen, we are generating 81 percent of our own power. It should pay for itself in five years." CoGen operates similar to a vehicle with an extreme super-duty engine. The natural-gas fired, turbo-charged, four-stroke…
Peter Staye, associate director of utilities, points to the ceiling of the Bacon Field House. About 140 high-tech light fixtures span the width of the dome-roofed gymnasium. "These are special lights for high ceilings," he says. "There's 24 fewer fixtures here than there used to be, and it's just as bright. If we used florescent fixtures, we'd need 240 of them." The new, 350-watt, high-intensity discharge bulbs have replaced the older, 400-watt bulbs, and use 373,000 fewer kilowatt hours per year. They're also programmed to turn on in zones, and change luminosity throughout the day based on a newly-installed ambient…
Trash bins may find themselves down in the dumps, at least around Wesleyan’s campus. The university is replacing them - one by one - with recyclable containers in attempt to make Wesleyan a "greener" campus community. "Most everything we throw away at our desks - paper, plastic water bottles and soda cans and cardboard packaging material - is recyclable," says Jeff Miller, associate director for facilities management. "So why keep a trash can under your desk?" Miller and other members of Wesleyan's Recycling and Waste Committee, a subcommittee of Wesleyan's Sustainable Advisory Group for Environmental Stewardship (SAGES), are spearheading efforts…
Wesleyan was mentioned in an Oct. 15 issue of The Middletown Press for making "enormous strides in sustainability." Wesleyan has established a climate action plan with a pledge for the campus to become carbon neutral by 2050. In the article, Bill Nelligan, the director of environmental health, safety and sustainability, stated that "Wesleyan has a strong commitment and the mechanisms in place to live up to those commitments." The campus has implemented numerous initiatives, including a rideshare program, kitchen waste donation to the city composting program, and a solar panel donation to city schools.
Wesleyan was cited in a New York Times Sept. 28 article titled "Whole Grains, Fresh Corn: School Menu on a Mission" for buying locally produced food. The article says Wesleyan is "at the head of that class."
President Michael Roth, center, signed a document Nov. 16 stating that he and Wesleyan will support measures to fight global climate change. Pictured left to right are Bill Nelligan, director of Environmental Health, Safety and Sustainability; Jacob Mirsky '08, representative of EON; Roth; Jim Dresser, chair of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees; Matthew Ball '08, member of the Wesleyan Student Assembly. Posted 11/20/07 President Michael Roth signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment before an applauding crowd of several dozen Wesleyan students, staff, faculty and trustees on Nov. 16. The commitment can be seen in full text here.…