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Energy Policies

“Knowledge is Power” Energy Conservation Awareness Initiative

The College of New Jersey has developed an Energy Conservation Awareness Initiative to help mitigate the unprecedented escalation in energy prices that has occurred globally in recent months.

As we face this challenge, we are calling upon our campus community to support a campus initiative titled “Knowledge is Power” by implementing simple changes in energy utilization behaviors that can positively affect operating costs and the environment while relieving some pressure on institutional resources. We have identified four major awareness components of this program below.


Wintertime Energy Conservation Guidelines

Adjust Office and Building Temperatures to 68 Degrees Fahrenheit
Buildings that have centralized temperature controls will be set at a temperature of 68 degrees. This includes administrative, academic, residence and athletic facilities.

  • In buildings and rooms with thermostats that are not centrally controlled, individual occupants should manually set the temperature to 68 degrees.
  • This temperature reduction could save $200,000, if it receives campus support.
  • Building occupants are encouraged to remove all items that block heating registers, radiators and baseboard radiation strips to allow proper heating distribution and air circulation to each space.
  • The campus community is encouraged to close all exterior windows and doors in order to minimize heat loss from buildings. Doors should not be propped open. Operations staff members are requested to make sure that roll-up overhead doors remain closed in loading and receiving areas while not in use.

Summertime Energy Conservation Guidelines

Adjust Office and Building Temperatures to 78 Degrees Fahrenheit

  • Buildings that have centralized temperature controls will be set at a temperature of 78 degrees. this includes administrative, academic, residential and athletic facilities.
  • In buildings and rooms with thermostats that are not centrally controlled, individual occupants should manually set the temperature to 78 degrees.
  • This temperature reduction saves approximately $250,000, if it continues to receive campus support.
  • Building occupants are encouraged to remove all items that block cooling and return registers to allow proper cooling distribution and air circulation to each space.
  • The campus community is encouraged to close all exterior windows and doors in order to minimize the loss of cooled air from building. Doors should not be propped open.

Adopt a 10-Minute Lighting Guideline

  • Building occupants are requested to adopt a “10-Minute Lighting Guideline” and turn off lights if you are leaving a room for more than 10 minutes.
  • Additionally, building occupants are also requested to turn off lights in areas with adequate natural lighting and consider using task lighting instead of overhead lights in areas without natural daylight.

 

Use of Office Equipment

  • The campus community is asked to turn off all equipment, such as computers, monitors, printers, scanners, copiers, and other office/lab equipment, when not in use for extended periods of time. This is especially critical during unoccupied evening, overnight and weekend periods.
  • All faculty, students and staff are requested not to use screen savers on their computers. Instead, all users should set computers to sleep mode.
  • The campus community is encouraged to reduce the number of electrical appliances in use by consolidating where possible (coffee pots, microwaves, refrigerators) and turning them off when not in use.

Thank you for your support and continued dedication in helping the College to succeed in this critical effort.