Linda Robson, Fellow for Energy Studies at Case Western Reserve University, reports in August’s Business as an Agent of World Benefit e-news that an initiative to reduce the campus' carbon footprint is working.

It started back in 2005, when University Provost John Anderson and Chief Financial Officer Hossein Sadid—concerned about the school’s massive energy bill—formed an energy advisory council. A year later, Case demonstrated green building principles on the ground with the Village at 115 residence (pictured), which earned a LEED-Silver rating.

Emboldened, the council developed a set of green building standards which has been adopted for all new campus construction and renovations in existing university buildings. They meet with facilities director Gene Matthews, and the school continues to invest in conservation projects, including a pilot high-performance system in the energy intensive Wolstein Research Building.

The impact has been measurable: “Between 2005 and 2007, the overall energy consumption of the campus has been cut by 6.9 million kilowatt hours,” Robson writes.

Just as important, they're spreading the word to staff and students to reduce the ‘demand side’ of the school's energy use. The facilities department has a real-time energy monitor on its web site, which Robson and others monitor and then send campus-wide email alerts to reduce the use when total consumption spikes into the red zone. And student-led efforts like Net Impact have formed and are sponsoring student sustainability challenges.

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