KU News Release

KU promotes conservation measures with Energy Fair, ‘Lights Out’ initiative

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will celebrate its successes in energy conservation by hosting an Energy Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, on the Stauffer-Flint Hall lawn. KU’s Center for Sustainability and Chevron Energy Solutions are partnering to host the fair, which will highlight efforts at KU to reduce energy use and promote practices that will help the campus continue to conserve energy.

As part of the day’s efforts to raise awareness, the campus community is also invited to take part in “Lights Out Across Campus.” Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to show their commitment to conserving energy and minimizing the environmental impacts associated with energy use by turning out overhead lights in offices, classrooms and residence hall rooms when sufficient natural light is available.

“While turning off the lights in your office one day won’t make a major dent, it does serve as a reminder that there are little things each of us can do to make a difference,” said Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability. “When it comes to energy use, those little things add up to big savings and help us minimize our impact on the environment.”

Severin hopes participants will continue to show their commitment every day at KU by implementing simple energy conservation practices, ranging from turning off unnecessary lights to shutting down computers and printers at the end of the day. Tips for reducing energy use and additional information about efforts under way at KU are available at www.energy.ku.edu.

The Center for Sustainability promotes and facilitates research and learning opportunities that address environmental improvement, economic prosperity and social responsibility. The center helps develop interdisciplinary research teams, supports student research projects, sponsors service learning courses, coordinates a campuswide network of sustainability ambassadors and promotes sustainable practices at KU.

KU and Chevron have formed a partnership to better the campus environment by continuing to implement energy-saving equipment and strategies that will save money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the learning environment for students, faculty and staff. Chevron is in the monitoring phase of a comprehensive energy efficiency and conservation project that touches 85 buildings on the KU campus. Improvements were constructed from December 2002 to June 2004. Chevron also has onsite a full-time energy resource manager who assists Facilities Operations, schedules building automation controls for optimal performance and oversees the Energy Monitor Program, which enlists KU students to continually monitor campus buildings’ energy performance and educate building users about energy saving strategies.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.