President Hendrix declared this year to be The Year for Maximizing Efficiencies. As part of this initiative the Facilities Department is implementing energy conservation strategies campuswide. The campus budgets $2.5M for energy expenditures annually. Collectively, any steps employees can take toward reducing campus energy expenditures will help the campus’ operational budget. Energy consumption is broken down into three major categories:
| Utility Type | Percent of Overall Utility Bill |
| Major Building Systems and Equipment | 50% |
| Lighting Load | 30% |
| Plug Connected Load | 20% |
Facilities will be implementing the following energy management strategies, many of which have no or low up-front costs:
- Facilities will be delamping (disconnecting a light or two in multiple fixtures) in spaces that have high light levels and adequate window lighting.
- Utilizing a combination of external funding sources and incentives from our utility provider, Facilities will be systematically retrofitting lighting to low wattage LEDs.
- Where appropriate, Facilities will manage the heating and cooling set points of buildings to industry standard levels for energy management: Heating up to 68F and cooling down to 72F.
- In collaboration with local solar providers, Facilities is studying prospects for renewable energy installations on campus. In order for solar energy or renewable energy to be a viable option it is necessary to first optimize our electrical consumption.
The following table illustrates the potential savings from some of these activities:
| Energy Savings Strategy Potential Savings Annually | |
| Delamping spaces | $1,000 per 100 tubes |
| LED lighting retrofit | $225,000 for entire campus |
| Temperature Management (heating set point 68F max: cooling set point 72F max) | $210,000+/-(depends on outside air temperature) |
How can Shepherd employees help?
Everyone can participate in this effort, especially in the area of plug connected appliances. For example: running one personal appliance (space heater or coffee pot) for one hour costs Shepherd the same amount of money that it costs to run the lights in 2.5 classrooms in White Hall. Reducing personal appliance use, coffee pots, space heaters, microwaves, etc. will help to reduce energy consumption. For every 150 appliances taken out of service, the campus will save $8,600 in utility expenses. Facilities requests employees to consider taking the following steps to help achieve an even greater savings on our energy expenses:
- Turn off lights when not in use
- Remove and/or minimize the use of personal appliances
- Turn off printers, computers and monitors each evening and over the weekend
Each of these efforts can help Shepherd in strengthening its financial health. Efforts like these also reduce carbon emissions and allow the campus to improve its overall sustainability ratings.