On February 22, 2001, Penn State signed the Partnership Letter committing to help the environment through improved energy performance.  Penn State signed up as the entire institution, including University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses, The Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania College of Technology and The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

By signing the Partnership Letter, Penn State has agreed to:

Assess our energy management practices and energy costs.

• Designate a Strategic Energy Director.
• Benchmark energy performance.
• Develop a comprehensive energy management plan.

Improve the energy performance of our facilities.

• Upgrade facilities where cost-effective.
• Purchase ENERGY STAR® equipment where possible.

Strive for excellence.

• Apply for the ENERGY STAR BuildingsSM Program Label for buildings where applicable.

EPA has agreed to provide:

• Advice on technical issues such as energy-efficiency strategies, building systems and technologies, and financing options.
• Coordination for a kick-off meeting with facilities, financial, communications, management and other staff to generate stakeholder support.
• Tools for benchmarking, scheduling, and calculating savings from energy-efficiency upgrades.
• Informational materials to publicize and promote our accomplishments.
• Networking opportunities with business peers and industry experts.

Benefits to Penn State include:

• Reducing of the cost of energy to run our buildings by an average of 15%.
• Gaining access to comprehensive technical and financial information to assist in making energy-efficient upgrades.
• Receiving individualized technical assistance from an energy consultant during our upgrade process.
• Achieving public recognition for demonstrating environmental leadership.
• Succeeding in preventing pollution while decreasing operating costs from investment in energy efficiency.

Initiatives

ENERGY STAR® Purchasing

This program is being developed in conjunction with the Finance & Business Environmental Startegy.
   
    Activities to date:

1. All Purchasing 'bid requests' now encourage vendors to provide alternate bids for more environmentally responsible products.
2. All University purchasing card holders were notified of the University's commitment to purchase "Energy Star" products. Local vendors were also notified and asked to promote this policy to University purchasers.
3. Awarded the University's incandescent and florescent lamp bid based on lifecycle costing - including consideration for TCLP compliance (low mercury), disposal costs, and energy usage.
4. Awarded an order for MicroFridges for residence halls based on lifecycle costing and energy usage.

PC Power Management
Energy Star has made available a centrally administered suite of software programs to enable power management for computer monitors on workstations during network login. They also have an on-line Monitor Power Management Calculator, to calculate potential energy and cost savings.

It is estimated that nationaly, 44% of office computers do not have monitor power management enabled, and that 63% are left on all night.

The first Penn State unit to implement the PC Power Management Program will be OPP. Then we hope to implement throughout Finance & Business, then the rest of University Park, and finally the campuses.

      Activities to date:

1. Began evaluation of software on OPP(OPPNET) network
2. Implementation on OPP(OPPNET) network in Physcial Plant Building
3. Began survey on OPP(SAFETY) network in Eisenhower Parking Deck
4. Began survey on Hospitality Services network
5. Implementation on OPP(SAFETY) network in Eisenhower Parking Deck

Program Contacts

Program Coordinator
Michael I. Prinkey, PE
The Pennsylvania State University
152M Physical Plant Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 863-4091
(814) 865-3737 fax
mip103@psu.edu

Program Communications
Paul Ruskin
The Pennsylvania State University
113 Physical Plant Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 863-9620
(814) 865-3737 fax
pdr2@psu.edu

Research Analyst / Higher Education Lead
Working in Support of ENERGY STAR
Peter Oh
The Cadmus Group, Inc.
1600 Wilson Blvd., Suite 500
Arlington, VA 22209
(703) 247-6137
poh@cadmusgroup.com

ENERGY STAR ® Institutional Purchasing Contact
Michelle Salisbury
The Cadmus Group, Inc.
135 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452
(781) 434-2548
(781) 434-2600 fax
msalisbury@cadmusgroup.com