Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss an innovative course offered as a partnership between the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (Canada), the Prince George Chamber of Commerce (Canada) and local businesses: UNBC's third-year undergraduate/graduate course, carbon and energy management. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Science students need exposure to activities that will help them to become familiar with phenomena exhibiting exponential decay. This paper describes an experiment that allows students to determine the rate of thermal energy loss by a hot object to its surroundings. It requires limited equipment, is safe, and gives reasonable results. Students…

Al Bartlett's video "Arithmetic, Population, and Energy" spells out many of the complex issues related to energy use in our society. Bartlett makes the point that basic arithmetic is the fundamental obstacle preventing us from being able to grasp the relationships between energy consumption, population, and lifestyles. In an earlier…

Glazing can be optimized to enhance passive solar heating and daylight harvesting by exceeding the prescriptive limits of the energy code. This savings can be garnered without the high cost of external overhangs or expensive glazing products. The majority of savings from solar glazing are attributable to the increase in solar heating and…

As energy costs continue to rise, many schools and universities are considering energy-saving solutions, including solar heating options, to lower costs and to attract students and staff that support environmentally friendly practices. However, administrators and facility engineers should take several issues into account before pursuing a solar…

If properly installed, optimized geoexchange systems can be one of the most cost effective, powerful options to accomplish the goal of improved energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. Accurately quantifying field performance is an important step in designing a system that is the proper size and capacity. The authors share the real life…

Buildings consume approximately 40 percent of the energy used in the U.S., and efficiency is widely recognized to be the most effective means for containing demand and reducing use. Institutions of higher education make up a significant proportion of building area and annual energy and facility-related costs in the United States. The national…

Saving energy in schools through behavior is all about believing that it is possible and that it can be done. Schools can play a valuable role in teaching students about becoming energy efficient and in leading their communities to become more efficient, too. In the process, one positively impacts the environment, teaches social responsibility,…

When financial savings are critical to every institution, facility managers demand even more from their energy systems while looking to spend less. One way to achieve significant energy savings and healthy schools without making a substantial capital investment is through energy monitoring and chiller plant optimization. The greatest energy…

The growing field of energy assessment for buildings presents opportunities for teachers to engage students in topics related to current issues, science, technology, and communication skills. Students who find satisfaction in energy auditing can expand their interests into careers as the demand to stop wasteful practices in homes and businesses…

When one considers the necessary elements of a green cleaning program, it is tough to know where to begin. After all, green cleaning has evolved considerably from the days when a program simply involved using a couple of "green" chemicals. Over the last several years, successful green cleaning programs have grown in sophistication and are now…

The University of Colorado at Boulder's student run Environmental Center leads the campus' sustainability efforts. The Center created the Energy and Climate Revolving Fund (ECRF) in 2007 to finance energy-efficiency upgrades. The ECRF functions as a source of funding for project loans and provides a method of financing projects that seeks to save…

Reducing school district energy expenditures has become a universal goal. However, school board members, superintendents, and directors of buildings and grounds are often unaware of the many options available to conserve energy. School energy conservation used to be relatively simple: turn off the lights and turn down the heat in the winter and…

A 2008 study by the management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co. projected that the world's data centers would surpass the airline industry in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Certainly adding to those emissions are K-12 districts, whose data centers hold the equipment that serves as the backbone for an ever-growing number of computing initiatives.…

One would not expect Niles West High School to be a model of sustainability. Located in Skokie, Illinois, the facility is more than 50 years old and at 612,000 square feet, it stands among the nation's largest high schools. Last winter, Niles West became one of the first five schools in the United States to achieve certification from the U.S.…