MSU taking steps toward greener campus

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

Little white mini-trucks running around the Montana State University campus look almost like toys, but they’ve got a serious purpose n saving energy and reducing MSU’s carbon footprint.

“It looks like an ice cream truck,” joked Gary “Stuie” Stuart, an MSU electrician for 23 years. “The first day we got them, I bought ice cream for everybody.”

MSU is trying out four of the new mini-trucks in large part because they get three to four times better gas mileage than standard trucks. So far it looks like they’re getting 25 to 30 miles per gallon, compared to 6 to 10 miles per gallon for the old trucks, said Jeff Butler, MSU facilities services director.

The mini-trucks are just one of the more visible examples of steps the university is taking to make the MSU campus greener.

“We’ve historically had a high focus on energy savings,” mainly in an effort to save money, said Jeff Davis, MSU assistant facilities director, who manages utilities and engineering.

Upgrading buildings and vehicles to save energy often costs money, however, and that has had to compete with other campus priorities. But today, there’s greater emphasis than ever on conservation.

“We love it,” Davis said. “We’re getting support, financial support, for energy conservation that we haven’t always gotten in the past.”

Gov. Brian Schweitzer has challenged all state agencies to cut their energy use 20 percent by 2010, a goal just two years away.

Meanwhile, MSU President Geoff Gamble signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, which commits MSU to developing a plan for reducing its greenhouse gases to help combat global warming.

And lawmakers who oversee the Legislature’s Long Range Building Program are also focusing on energy conservation, Davis said. MSU officials are hoping the 2009 Legislature will invest millions of dollars in energy-saving projects.

MSU has 4.5 million square feet of building space to light and heat, and spends nearly $8 million a year on utilities, including electricity, gas, water and sewer services.

Gamble announced last month that MSU had signed up a Colorado firm, Integrated Energy Solutions, to find ways to reduce energy and water use on campus. The company is to be paid a percentage of MSU’s savings from conservation. At other campuses around the West, Davis said, the company has managed to save 10 percent or more of campus energy use.

David Klem, the company’s resource conservation specialist, is working out of MSU’s facilities services office. One of his jobs is to change people’s habits, so they turn down the heat and turn off the lights when dorm rooms or classrooms aren’t in use.

One of his jobs will be trying to save as much energy as possible in the next month while students are on winter break.

MSU is trying to conserve energy, but without sacrificing the comfort of students and staff, Davis said. MSU’s newer buildings have occupancy sensors that turn off the lights when people leave a room. The occupancy sensors can also be used to turn down the heat when rooms are empty.

If the Legislature approves money for energy conservation, Davis said MSU wants to finish installing the more efficient T-8 fluorescent lights, which already make up about 70 percent of the lights on campus.

Another MSU priority would be to replace all the old single-pane windows in older buildings, like Roberts Hall. One reason MSU has been slow to replace heat-leaking windows in historic buildings is that the new windows must preserve the building’s original look, and that becomes a custom job, Davis said.

Another place to save energy is in the large motors that run modern building ventilation and heating systems. Last week, new controls were installed to vary the speed of the big fans that blow air through the new Chemistry Research Building to keep the air in its labs safe for students and staff.

Slowing down the fan motors not only reduces energy use, but also reduces the noise that some people have complained about, Davis said.

Asked if he is becoming MSU’s new energy czar, Davis smiled and said no. “We’re trying to take the cooperative approach,” he said.

Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com or 582-2633.

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