Lisa Zhu | Saving green by going green

As the U.S. economy continues to spiral downwards, it's become more and more clear that even our impenetrable "Penn bubble" can't keep out a national recession. In December, President Gutmann issued an update on the university's plans for coping with the financial crisis, assuring that Penn will not be "implementing broad-scale layoffs, hiring freezes or across-the-board budget reductions."

Even so, several entities in the University have already undertaken drastic measures; the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, for instance, drew criticism from Daily Pennsylvanian readers for letting go 18 of its staff members. In the face of all this gloom, there may still be a silver lining - financial necessity can force Penn to adopt cost-cutting measures that are not only economically efficient, but also environmentally beneficial. In other words, this is a stellar opportunity for a university that is the number-one wind-power purchaser to innovate on a budget. Here are some possible ways to cut back on dollars and our carbon footprint:

Reduce energy consumption. According to Penn's Budget Vice President Bonnie Gibson, the University spent close to $30 million last year on electricity costs alone for its main campus. Factoring in gas and heating bills boosts that figure to $63 million- a little less than 5 percent of Penn's total costs (excluding the health system). As students, we tend to think of lighting as the main culprit - after all, the lights in the hallways of college houses are never off, and I can't remember ever seeing Huntsman Hall dark (not counting the souls of the Whartonites ensconced within).

However, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that air conditioning makes up the largest chunk of household energy expenditures, followed by refrigerators, space heating and water heating. Lighting comes fifth. Ideal solutions for mitigating air conditioning and heating costs would be installing a geothermal heating and cooling system or renovating existing buildings to improve efficiency; unfortunately, these projects have prohibitively high capital costs that Penn probably cannot afford to pay right now. Instead, all we can do for the time being is to turn down the thermostat a bit and bundle up.

Refrigerators, on the other hand, could represent a realistic way to save money and go green, especially since our demand for ice-cold drinks probably wanes during these winter months. Reducing the number of refrigerators on campus by a third could save over $2 million over the course of a year. Fortunately, we've started to address this issue by replacing some bottled-water coolers with packaging-saving Quench water systems already.

Cut down on travel. Before the financial crisis, Penn's schools and departments often paid for its faculty members to attend academic conferences. That's not necessarily the case anymore - Gutmann's latest statement urged University professors and staff to "reduce non-compensation related expenditures such as travel, meals, and professional conference participation."

Likewise, Gibson wrote in an e-mail that "the most likely places for Penn to cut back include current expense, travel and temporary staff."

This one's easy. Modern videoconferencing and other modes of communications technology can provide an only-slightly inferior substitute to in-person interactions (alas, emoticons still simply cannot compete with the credibility of a firm handshake). Not only would this policy cut down Penn's airfare and ground transportation expenditures, it would also reduce our carbon footprint.

Reduce Penn Transit operating times. Right now, Penn Buses run their east and west routes starting at around 5 p.m. to midnight. Ending these operating times a few hours earlier would not do a terrible disservice to staff or graduate students, most of whom leave campus before 8 p.m.; late-hour riders could just take SEPTA instead.

With the price of diesel currently hovering at around $2.40 per gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration, this strategy could represent fuel savings of $200,000 to $300,000 per year for the University (with additional labor cost reductions). And obviously, decreased diesel consumption means fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

To be sure, Penn's energy-related costs represent only a small fraction of the university's total operating expenses. As Gutmann said, "Compensation . represents the single largest expense in the University's operating budget." At the same time, Penn's aversion to layoffs or financial aid reductions as solutions for its economic problems means that we should take advantage of any savings opportunity that exists - even if it's only a few thousand dollars here and there. After all, if we must undertake the unpleasant task of cost cutting, why can't we get "more green" in more ways than one?

Lisa Zhu is a College and Wharton senior from Cherry Hill, NJ. Zhu-ology appears on Thursdays. Her email address is zhu@dailypennsylvanian.com

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