The Department Of Housing is helping to set the bar for Green Teams and sustainability on campus. They have been actively participating in their own energy conservation campaign since last year, in addition to numerous other efforts that reflect their commitment to cutting UF’s carbon footprint.Housing placed light switch covers throughout residence halls and Student Affairs facilities to remind students and staff to turn off lights when not in use, and initiated a “Computers Off!” campaign for staff and residents. Residents are educated on power-saving practices for their personal computers and encouraged to be more mindful of consumption.
“The Housing and Residence Education Green Team is focusing on energy and water conservation in residence facilities,” said Sharon Blansett, green team captain. “Our education programs and messages emphasize that small, consistent individual effort can make a difference.”
They are also close to wrapping up the 2010 “Eco-Challenge: Battle of the Halls.” In the challenge, residence halls compete to see which group of students can reduce their water and energy consumption the most. January focused on water conservation and February focuses on energy use. Points for the waste reduction competition accrue throughout the challenge. The winners will be announced April 21 at the campus Earth Day Celebration.
Additionally, staff are continuing with other structural efforts such as expanding motion-sensor lighting, replacing older windows with higher efficiency ones, and retrofitting lighting systems.
Housing’s efforts help exemplify the need for unique and focused action across campus. Not only are these efforts critical in cutting facilities’ consumption and modifying staff behavior to be more sustainable, but they are helping transform the student culture around sustainability at UF.
For more information about Housing visit here.
