22 BACK TO SCHOOL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2009
ENVIRONMENT
Program could help students save energy, cut costs
BY MIKE BONTRAGER mbontrager@kansan.com
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking for community projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while benefiting the community. The Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program, started by the EPA, will assist in funding up to 30 projects nation-wide by distributing $10 million among the accepted plans. The city of Lawrence submitted its proposal on July 20.
Jeff Severin, director of the University's Center for Sustainability, said the city staff asked him for project ideas. Severin said his idea for a project that would benefit the community while lowering emissions came from a similar program in Boulder, Colo., called Colorado University Community Energy Connections. This program employs CU students who raise awareness about energy conservation by informing home owners and renters about what they
can do to conserve energy in their homes. The program also offers optional home energy audits done by students who examine residences and give specific examples for ways to conserve energy for each home.
Severin said the plan he proposed differed from CU Community Energy Connection by recruiting student volunteers, instead of using paid employees, to go around to student neighborhoods to talk about what they could do as renters to conserve energy and efficiency in their apartments and homes.
Severin said the program would provide resources such as light bulbs, smart power strips and weatherizing materials to help reduce energy consumption. He said the program
"The idea is to focus more on what can a renter do." Severin said. "A lot of stuff that's coming out right now is retrofitting homes and that involves the home owner, but what do you do if you're a renter and you can't make some of these major changes?"
would not only help reduce emissions, but would also help save students money.
Janie Chen, Olathe junior in environmental studies, said she was interested in the project and would be willing to participate if the program became a reality. She said she thought students could do more to conserve energy, particularly in places such as the "student ghetto."
"Even if we are renters, we need to be educated about how to conserve energy and conserve our money," Chen said. "There's so much more that we can do, and I just think that a lot of people aren't aware of it."
Chen said she tried to conserve energy at her home by turning off lights, keeping the air-conditioning and heating down when she wasn't at home, using power strips and unplugging appliances that suck up energy.
"Those things actually take up a lot more energy than you think they do" Chen said.
She said she knew of other environmental studies majors who would want to know more about the project.
"It's a project that's close to home," Chen said. "I think it's not too big and something we can accomplish."
Ryan Callihan, Lenxa senior, is president of KU Environs, a student organization that promotes awareness of environmental issues. Callihan said he agreed that the plan sounded like a good idea, especially in the student ghetto because the houses in that area were more prone to being inefficient because of their age.
"Students don't want to take the time to invest in a long-term investment for energy savings because that's not really their prerogative," Callihan said. "They won't even be there next year."
He said that it should be the landlord's responsibility, but that because they didn't pay the electrical bill, many landlords did not improve energy efficiency much in their rentals.
Callihan coordinates student volunteers for KU Environs. To get students to volunteer for the program, there would need to be some incentive to get them to participate, such as community service credit, Callihan said.
Severin said the project would not happen without the grant, which would provide half the funding.
"The actual man power could be done on a volunteer basis," Severin said. "But we want to be able provide some additional resources."
Severin said funding would be very competitive because projects would be submitted nation-wide, and that there had already been more than 250 proposals submitted. He said this had made funding opportunities for this project harder to obtain.
Funds are expected to be available by January 2010 according to the Climate Showcase Communities Grant Web site.
Edited by Derek Zarda
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