FUTURE OF ENERGY

EPAC begins discussions

What else is being done to both
determine the course of energy
actlon and to iniorni the college
community about energy issues?

Recently, vicerrovost Ken
Browning established an Energy
Policy Advisory Committee to
meet the above goals. The cams
mittee. which has met twice so far,
is composed of iour students
(David Green. Ross Johnson, Scott
R. Porter, and Anne Rawlandl,
three proiessors (philosophy
professor Jack Worley, chemistry
professor Luther Erickson, and
physics proiessor Charles Duke),
two administrators (assistant
director of Student Affairs Susan
Wittpenn. and chairman
Browning), and Physical Plant
Director Dale Hawn.

AT THEIR FIRST meeting. the
committee brieﬂy discussed an
interim report that had been
prepared by Browning on the
subject of energy use and what the
college was doing about it The
report. which is available for
anyone to read, outlines past
history and the quick fix methods
the college has employed to reduce
consumption.

The report goes on to cite
specific statistics about energy
Ilse. A gallon oi ml now costs more
than four times what it did before
the 1973 embargo: a cubic foot oi
natural gas costs more than twice
what it did prerembargo,

ifestyles may be affected

hen you sit down and think about it, you come to
alize what an incredibly energyintensive liiestvle
* live, Here at Grinnell, the college will spend
tut $325 per student this year on utilities, ace
rding to VieeProvost Ken Browning, And this
st will rise and be reflected In tuition increases.
andy Danforth. assistant professor of political
ience. says that since most students don’t have to
y the energy bllls directly, there is little real
areness of the need to conserve.
SOLUTIONS TO THE obvious problems.such as
rnihglights unnecessarily, taking needlessly long
owers, using appliances in rooms. and leaving
ndows open in the winter, are a matter oi
ucating students to pay more attention to their
ily energy use.
it Will be the job of the Energy Policy Advisory
immittee to spearhead the education effort. The

Ac will also be the iorum ior exposing areas

ere energy conservation and lifestyle changa
e in order.
HERE ARE A few things we’ve come up with
rich are less than obvious Ways energy is used
fficiently on campus. For example, when you do
ur laundry during the day,you're helping to rack
. a higher electric bill (or the college. Washing
achines and specially electric dryers use large
ounts of energy and operating them during peak»
te times is very costly.
Dale Hawn, Director oi Physical Plant. says
-ctric heating of me kind used in the dryels costs
ore than its worth.
“IT'S A REAL ripoff from an energy cons
rvation viewpoint," he said. Hawn explained that
percent of the energy that goes into making the
ectricity for the dryer is lost. Thus, it is a highly
efficient method for drying.
How many glasses do you use at dinner? How
any plates, bowls, and how much ice? The more
nnerware you use in Quad and Cowles, the more
at has to be cleaned and the more energy that is
eded.
THERE IS A 750 pound ice machine in Quad and
takes quite a bit of electricity to freeze the water
to ice. But at any mealtime, you can plainly see
at studens don’t treat ice as a valuable com-
odity. Only about half theice that comes out of the
stributor makes it into a glass,
“That's because‘ students won't wait for the
.chine to stopithey're too impatient," Food
rVice Director Dave McConnell said. ”A small
1e of ice Collects in the tray and there‘s about
teen glasses of it there," he said.
THERE ARE PROBABLY ways for students to
e less plates and McConnell Could facilitate this
. distributing fewer of them. For example, ‘all th

ates and bowls that have édt fruit in th'ei'ntcould be '
. ited. Studenm could be given either whole apples

 

and oranges, or they could just be handed cut truit
without bowls

Asfor the ice, students can just be more careful in
what they take. and they can take fewer glasses ior
the sake of conservation,

ANOTHER WAY WATER is wasted on campus is
In toilets. About three gallons of water go down the
drain with each flush. In areas of the country where
water is often in short supply, people have instituted
policies of only flushing when necessary. within
limits of tolerability, people in these areas don't
flush after every use, but rather after every several
uses. The slogan or this policy, a policy which could
be adapted here to save water and the energy it
takes to clean and pump it, was: “If it’s yellow, let
It mellow: if it‘s brown, flush it down

Broader changes in the lifestyle at Gl‘innell have
been brought up at the lPIRG and EPAC meetings

ONE SUGGESTION is to alter the hours when
campus buildings are used. The idea is to use less
lighting and heating for buildings at night. Thus,
students would be encouraged to make use of
buildings like ARH and the Science building during
daytime and to use available light where possible,

EPAC member Ross Johnson has also pointed out
that all of Cowles Dining Hall is lit up for one janitor
to clean up some three hours after dinner is over.
Physical plant has already eliminated many of its
late shifts and Johnson suggesﬁ that this janitor
could do his work earlier in order to help save
electricity.

THERE ARE ALSO some ideas to alter the
structure of the school year. One suggﬁtion is to
add an extra week to the winter break between
semesters. This would potentially save the college a
week of heating costs during the coldest time of the
year,

The only drawback is if the extra week at the end
of the spring semester would involve using equally
costly cooling tor the college But, if this springs’
weather pattern (which may be preiiguring the
next ice age) continues over the years, there would
not be any worry or excessive cooling costs.

It MORE RADICAL proposal addresses the long
term issues or a post-oil society. The proposal is to
have the college attain a degree of selisuiiiciency
both in supplying itselt with energy and food. The
college would be in session all year around, with
students being involved "I growing crops {or the
food service.

A less radical idea is to simply plant a hearty
breed of conifer on the north rim of the campus to
cut the blast of the winter winds, More pines could
be planted on the northern exposure oi other
campus buildings as well

These are just a few ideas, Next week the EPAC
will take up some oi these ideas and you maybe

, seeing-changes vsoonu - -

 

THE INTERIM REPORT also
blames colder winter: for the

higher energy bills. “Since 1971-
'73.“ the report states, “the number

of heating degree days tdays

where heat is needed) has steadily

increased
But increasing costs are a kind of
Catchszz tor the college. Browning
pointed out that despite quick fix
methods. the savings in energy
costs are being offset by the
soaring prices (see graphs).
THE COMMITTEE THEN
discussed the problem or educating
the college community about ways
to help conserve. and ways to
develop alternative energy
sources. This topic will be looked
into more speciilcally next week
when the committee meets for

the third session. 7
The commlttee’s second meeting

focused entirely on the problem of
reducing energy use in the Science
bulldrng. Ideas were brought up
about eliminating all electric
heating elements in the building,
making sure ventilation hoods are
turned off when not in use, and
saving money in the summer use oi
the building.

THE LONC~RJ\NGE questions
which face the committee concern
student lifestyle and implementing
leastblc alternatives lo an oil-gas
system Problems that are ape
parently solved by simply turning

s

something down. or orf.take on a no

different perspective when people

begin to complain. For example. _ on.

so /\/\

the college could iollow Presldont
Carter's cxample now that the
Senate has given him the authority
to have thermostats set at 55
degrees in winter, 80 degrees in
summer in all public and nonresr

dential buildings. .

The question oi economics arises
again in regards to alternative
energy sources. Despite advances

in research and development, and
rising prices. It is still mtlch
cheaper to burn tossil iuels than to
convert to. a solar power
system, Untll lurther advances are
made. the economic tradeoiis arc
nniavorable ior alternative
sources.

"in the mediumrrun.” Browning
said. “i don'tthink there is a lot we
can do [0 convert to alternative
energy sources."

Trends in energy use

in thousands

total (051 or ‘1'

'91)? be

human hours

if

\

electrical use

\/\//

out W

w as
any;

tussit tnels

natural gas

N

W771

N\°"

lsoi or

ProbIems real

trontinued irnm pop.- it
:ventually involve the conversion

lrom an oilrgas intensive system to_

an alternative, mixed source
system These longsterm
liossibil ies are not yet on the
agenda for action by the college.

Also not yet on the agenda for
action are energy~inefficient
buildings such as the Forum, ARH.
and Burling Library. ‘

ALL THREE presently have
single pane glass in the windows,
have heavy inrout traffic daily. and
have not been insulated in any
way. The library is well-known for
being an icy cave in winter and a
sauna in the summer. Hawn
confirms that the building is not an
energy efficient structure. He says
the heating and cooling system is
inadequate ior a building of the
library's size.

Further. the library has a
problem in that it has a southern,
sunny exposure that is made
completely at glass. The glass is
tinted and Hawn says it contributes
to a greenhouse effect in the
building. Although the windows
were designed to include an
electric curtain system (which
would cut down on heat absorption
Inside the building), the curtains
have never been installed.

AND THEN THERE are ARH
and Carnegie. Like the planet
Mercury, these buildings seem to
have ihelr torrid and frigid Sides.
In the past, some proiessors have
been steamed out of their offices
and student have sweated through
their classes; on the other hand,
sometimi‘s smoked meat .could

Editor‘s note: .

well be store In somc offices and
classrooms.

The iundamental problem in
implementing any energy actions
is the problem of cost. Renovar
tinns, window replacements, and
other actions are done one-at-as
time. Ken Browning explained that
each proposed change must go
through an approval process by the
trustees. After that is granted. the
college must come up with workels
who, hopefully, will not. be affected
by either a labor or materials
strike. Finally, the college must
come up with the money to pay for
the projecmihundreds oi thou-
sands of dollars when it all adds up.

“WE DON‘T ALWAYS have the
money to put into it," Browning
said.

In the coming age or scarcity, it
seems the college is caught bet
ween the high costs of fossil fuels
and the high costs of achieving
energy ciiiciency.

AT THE lPlRG mecting, Hawn
warned oi the possibility oi the
college's supply oi oil and natural
gas being cutoff in a time of severe
shortage.

“It's a matter to be concerned
about," Hawn said, and he cited
the case in 1973 when the oil supply
was actually out off during the
embargo. At that time, reserves
lided the college over, but :1 NWT“
shortage could drain reserves and
leave the college out in the coil
Hawn said.

in any event. the economi s of
energy tell the story simply the
energy problem is here and it is
going to stay: . « ~ » -

These stories were compiled by Danirlynn and Andrew chulti.

 

“17‘? on

