Transylvania is always looking for ways to be more environmentally and fiscally responsible on campus. One way we have done so is through the creation in 2013 of the Green Revolving Loan Fund. The fund was launched in 2013 with a $75,000 seed grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and a $75,000 match grant from Transylvania’s capital projects budget.
The fund’s 2017-18 annual report was recently released and shows campus environmental improvements were possible due to savings generated by previous projects, endowment earnings and donations.
Transy’s Green Revolving Loan Fund can be used for a wide-range of projects: utility conservation, waste reduction and renewable energy projects; educational and behavioral change projects; and incremental support for more utility-efficient options or for additional energy-saving equipment not funded by the university’s normal budgets.
“Transy’s Green Revolving Loan Fund can be used for a wide-range of projects,” said Marc Mathews, the university’s vice president for business and finance. This includes: utility conservation, waste reduction and renewable energy projects; educational and behavioral change projects; and incremental support for more utility-efficient options or for additional energy-saving equipment not funded by the university’s normal budgets.
Two lighting projects implemented in 2017-18 will reduce energy use and provide cost savings. One project retrofitted the Strickland Auditorium lobby in the Brown Science Center with interior LED lighting. The project cost $3500 and will realize an annual energy savings of $500. In addition to energy conservation, the retrofit also significantly improved usability of student spaces in the building.
Campus-wide, the university has installed programmable occupancy/motion sensors that will automatically turn off the lights in any unoccupied area after a predetermined time. Annual energy savings on this $20,000 project are expected to be more than $3100 per yer.
What’s next for the Transy’s energy efficient projects? Additional improvements to lighting systems, including a LED lighting retrofit in various areas of the Beck Center and LED exterior campus lighting. The university is also exploring solar and wind power installations.
The campus community is an important part of the university’s energy-saving efforts. Let us know if you see a dripping faucet or hear a
running toilet, know of a place where lights seem to always be on. Suggest a project at: http://bit.ly/2xjwhYE.