I’m pleased to see that the University of Illinois Board of Trustees is initiating an energy conservation program. However, it’s going to be a long row to hoe. On and off over the past 30 years I’ve been either a student or employee of the UI. I’ve been in many classrooms and offices where the primary means of controlling temperature during the winter is by opening the window. I suspect that this is still how temperatures are controlled in these spaces. Getting a handle on this is not going to be easy or cheap. However, what concerns me more than the old buildings are the new ones. Let me pick on just one building: the new Campus Recreation Center-East. As far as buildings are concerned, this one is brand new. I’ll just mention two of several problems I’ve identified with this new building:

1) Even though they are completely unnecessary on bright, sunny days, the lights in the ceiling of the entry canopy are on (at least they are energy-efficient fixtures). These lights should have been controlled by light-sensing controls so that they only turn on when natural light levels fall below a certain threshold.

2) Even when they are not in use, the lights in the racquetball courts are on. I think there are 64 lamps in each court. How easy would it have been to put these fixtures on an occupancy sensor? Very.

Why weren’t these controls implemented in a brand-new building? Budgets? If so, what about the long-term cost of electricity to operate these fixtures and how much more will it cost to retrofit these buildings? Will the renovated IMPE also have these types of problems?

The bonus of saving energy does not fall on the shoulders of the University alone. We’re all a part of the equation, and that also concerns me. For example, last week I attended an evening lecture at Roger Adams Lab. I was shocked when I entered the lecture hall. The room was trashed, absolutely trashed with Daily Illini newspapers strewn all over the floor. Not just a couple of papers, there were dozens with a few plastic pop bottles strewn about for added ambiance. And these are the students that are going to usher in a “green” future? God help us. Maybe some of these litterbugs are the same people I see at the gym that leave the shower running when they leave the shower stall. I wonder, who turns off their shower at home?

The savings that are possible by just paying attention and turning lights and equipment off when not needed can contribute substantially to conservation efforts. But that requires us to pay attention. Sophisticated control systems can also contribute substantially to conservation efforts, but until these systems are put into place, we as individuals can make a difference. That is, if we care to.

Robert Nemeth works for the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center that is located at the Building Research Council which is a part of the School of Architecture.