Holiday Energy Savings

Published: December 21st, 2010

Category: Memos

Ed Poppell, Vice President for Business Affairs

Friday, December 24, 2010 through Sunday, January 2, 2011, UF will once again be implementing our annual Winter Set-back Program. Physical Plant will be turning down air handlers at unoccupied times to save energy and money. This program allows the temperatures in most of the office and classroom environments to fall to 64 degrees or rise to 82 degrees before the ventilation system will be activated.

The most obvious benefit of setbacks is monetary, with the savings calculated to be $10,000 per day. This program also helps UF reduce our carbon footprint. More than 70% of our carbon emissions are directly related to our buildings. Thus, building setback programs are an important part of the campus plan to be carbon neutral by 2025.

We hope you will help us save even more money and energy by unplugging unneeded equipment and electronics, turning off what you can’t unplug, and remembering to shut off lights in your office and in common areas, such as bathrooms and conference rooms.

We understand that many buildings have essential personnel who work on campus even when the students are gone, file servers require fixed temperatures, and some laboratory and research areas cannot tolerate temperature fluctuations. Before implementing a setback program, buildings are closely studied to determine special circumstances and zoned accordingly.

Thank you for your cooperation. I hope you have a safe and peaceful holiday.

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