Efforts Generate Ideas for Going Green

Knowing that it’s critical to use campus resources efficiently, The Duke Endowment in 2008 launched a $500,000 initiative to help Davidson College, Duke University, Furman University and Johnson C. Smith University search for ways to become more environmentally sustainable.

Insights

The campus sustainability initiative is still in its infancy, but several insights have guided our progress.

• Involving top-level administrators and trustees helped set the tone for the collaboration.
• The funder’s role has included hosting and convening meetings with outside experts. To keep the initiative efficient and effective, it might be necessary to hire a consultant as a point person.
• It’s helpful to think of collaboration in broad terms. Collaboration occurs when dozens of people come to the table to learn from each other – but it also occurs when two schools work together. The Duke Endowment Task Force on Sustainability defines collaboration as “the way in which we can learn from each other.”
• Since each campus has its own unique culture and individual priorities, it’s been important not to force collaboration where it doesn’t make sense. While looking for possible points of intersection, there also needs to be a balance between different institutional priorities.

Impact

The collaboration has generated ideas for conserving energy, securing federal- and state-funded grants and creating learning opportunities for students. For example:

• Thanks to the 2009 energy audits, Davidson, Johnson C. Smith and Furman have big-picture views of campus energy use and 20 recommendations for improved efficiency. Davidson, for example, is planning to purchase a swimming pool cover that will reduce evaporative heat loss when the pool is empty. The cover will cost about $17,000, but will produce an annual savings of $12,863. At Smith, retrofitting lighting fixtures in all buildings will cost $118,429, but save $49,372 annually. The university also is installing motion sensor switches in several rooms across campus, which will turn off lights when rooms are unoccupied. With a project cost of $12,981 and an annual savings of more than $21,000, the payback period for this investment is .61 years. Furman replaced a steam boiler in an arts building with an $85,000 natural gas hot water boiler, which will save about $10,874 annually.
• After its campus assessment by Solar Design Associates, Furman recently received a grant from the S.C. Energy Office to install 300 solar panels. Because of the work done earlier by Solar Design, the university knows exactly where the panels will go and in what configuration. Davidson has applied for a state grant to install photovoltaic modules on its Baker sports complex.
• By exploring carbon offset programs at the local level, Duke University has partnered with Duke Energy to develop a pilot project for capturing methane from commercial hog farms in North Carolina.

Contact Us

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Associate Director, Higher Education
704.969.2101