3. Energy
Energy is a critical issue for reducing the university's impact on the environment. CUNY is made up of 23 million square feet of space, including 295 buildings of various ages and sizes, and accounts for 1 percent of the energy load of New York City. Energy use in CUNY buildings accounts for approximately 80 to 90 percent of total greenhouse-gas emissions across the university. As such, measures to increase energy efficiency and use clean renewable energy are a clear priority under the CUNY Sustainability Project.
Sustainability in energy focuses on initiatives to improve efficiency and conservation as well as on efforts to obtain energy from renewable sources, including:
- monitoring energy consumption,
- retrofits of appliances and power plants, making use of energy-efficient technology,
- conducting a carbon-emissions inventory and committing to emissions reduction goals, and
- making use of renewable energy, either through direct purchases of renewable energy credits or through onsite installation of clean energy resources.
Brooklyn College is addressing these issues by:
- conducting education/awareness-raising campaigns encouraging the campus community to conserve energy,
- switching inefficient light fixtures/bulbs and motors to efficient equipment,
- changing light switches to motion sensor/infrared technology,
- replacing existing window air conditioners with "Energy Star" efficient units, and
- working with the Office of Information Technology Services to ensure that computers switch to automatic sleep mode when not in use.
