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In unison with this month’s launch of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) “What’s Your Excuse” energy campaign, designed to educate tweens, teens and their parents about the importance of energy efficiency, experts from the Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) wanted to see if college students are practicing energy-efficient habits in dorm rooms. Chris Emplaincourt, an instructor in mechanical engineering and assistant director of the Mississippi State DOE Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), and Ben Wright, a research engineer with the mechanical engineering department, assist Mississippi’s small- and medium-sized manufacturing facilities to operate more efficiently by identifying ways to reduce energy use. The IAC team, under the direction of Dr. Keith Hodge, has over the last 14 years saved Mississippi industry more than $8 million annually and has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their efforts have helped the DOE reduce CO2 emissions across the nation by 6.3 million metric tons—the equivalent of taking more than one million cars off the road.

In their efforts to promote energy awareness, Emplaincourt and Wright visited Megan Westmoreland, a junior majoring in elementary education. She lives on the third floor of Ruby Hall in Zacharias Village.

“College students and their parents may not think the simple, little things they can do, such as using compact florescent lamp (CFL) bulbs, will really help reduce the demand of energy consumption,” said Emplaincourt.

For instance, Emplaincourt noticed Westmoreland is using a 100-watt incandescent bulb in her floor lamp she brought from home. “This bulb uses more wattage, which requires more power and they run hot. The DOE states that if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a CFL bulb, we would save almost six billion kilowatt hours per year. That’s enough to light nearly three million homes, so the little things do add up.”

According to the DOE, using CFLs computes to a savings of more than $600 million in annual energy costs and reduces greenhouse gases equal to 750,000 cars. Another advantage of using CFL bulbs, they last anywhere from 6,000 to 15,000 hours.

“The university equipped the room with T8 fluorescent bulbs, which are slender, high-efficient, CFL type tubes that provide higher quality light at a lower temperature,” observed Wright. “That means an energy savings of up to 30 percent and because they run at a cooler temperature, it puts less load on the air conditioner.”

Westmoreland’s room is equipped with a self-contained package unit, so the student’s can regulate individual room temperature. Central air conditioning units are much more efficient, however, setting a “comfortable” room temperature for nearly 300 individuals is nearly impossible. Wright said students can counter this energy drain by practicing the following habits.

“Turning the thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and a few degrees lower in the winter will result in energy savings. For example, 10 percent or more savings may be obtained on cooling costs by setting the thermostat to 76 degrees when in the room and higher when the room is vacant. Keep in mind, however, that comfort should not be compromised for energy savings,” advised Wright.

Westmoreland recalled, “You know, that’s probably why the university sends e-mails all the time reminding us to turn out the lights when we leave and to turn our air-conditioning units up, down or off, depending on how long we will be away from our rooms.”

Emplaincourt and Wright observed that the microwave and refrigerator provided in Westmoreland’s room doesn’t have an “Energy Star” rating.

“Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that rates consumer products on energy efficiency. Energy Star refrigerators use 20 percent less energy than standard refrigerators,” offered Wright.

According to the DOE, if everyone in 2008 purchased an Energy Star model refrigerator, consumers would save 875 million kilowatt hours of electricity and more than $92 million in energy bills each year.

The two energy-saving experts complimented Westmoreland because her electronics were plugged into a power strip and the strip was turnedoff when not in use.

“According to the Department of Energy, 75 percent of electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are not on,” said Wright. “This ‘phantom’ power draw occurs in appliances such as televisions, DVD players, stereos, and computers, as well as cell phone and iPod chargers.”

Emplaincourt emphasized that turning off the power strip instead of just turning off electronic devices could save as much energy as six 60-watt light bulbs.“And another impressive DOE stat says that leaving your cell phone charger plugged in when you’re not charging your phone actually uses 20 times more energy than actually charging your phone.”

As Emplaincourt and Wright finished their assessment, they raised the energy efficiency of Westmoreland’s room from a rating of average to above average, because the seven bulbs used to light her bathroom and mirror were CFL bulbs and her computer was running in “stand-by mode,” which uses 70 percent less power than normal.

“What we just demonstrated is that just paying attention to the little things can really add up to a huge energy savings and that is important, especially when our country is addressing climate change and trying to invent more ways of becoming less dependent on foreign energy,” said Emplaincourt.

By: Diane Godwin