New Energy Conservation Policy

To: All Knoxville-area students, faculty and staff
From: Interim UT Knoxville Chancellor Jan F. Simek; Faculty Senate President John Nolt; Student Government Association President Jeff Wilcox; Graduate Student Senate President Julie Lynch

Today we are announcing a new energy conservation policy that will affect UT students, faculty and staff across the Knoxville area.

This new policy marks a major milestone in our efforts to increase efficiency on our campus in light of both budgetary and environmental concerns. While some of the changes in this new policy — most notably those related to how we heat and cool our buildings — will require some adjustments, we believe that this policy is fundamental in our efficiency efforts.

Beginning today, we will start the process in all UT Knoxville and Agricultural campus buildings to set the target indoor air temperature to 68 degrees Fahrenheit for heating and 76 degrees Fahrenheit for cooling. This means that some buildings may be cooler during the winter and warmer during the summer than they have been in the past.

We understand that for some of you, this change may reduce the level of comfort in your workspace. By making these small adjustments, though, the campus will realize significant reductions in energy costs.

Campus-wide energy costs are estimated at $20 million annually, which reflects unprecedented increases in energy costs over the past year. If your actions help us meet the goal for a 10 percent reduction, the campus will save at least $2 million.

For every degree that is reduced or increased in campus buildings, overall consumption is reduced by 2 percent during the heating season and by 4 percent in the cooling season. We are confident that these changes will certainly help us achieve our energy goals.

We appreciate your support and your patience as we work to adjust the temperatures in our buildings, many of which have aging systems. We will work closely with departments with spaces that require temperatures outside the set range for research or academic reasons. These changes will not impact student residence hall rooms, but common areas will be adjusted.

If you are an employee and have any questions or concerns about the new temperature policy, please talk with your supervisor. Students can send questions to environment@utk.edu.

In addition to temperature settings, the new policy formalizes the efforts that UT Knoxville has been undertaking in a number of areas to keep the university a national leader in campus sustainability.

As we continue to face budgetary issues in the weeks and months ahead, we encourage you to take part in our Switch Your Thinking campaign and help us achieve our goal of a 10 percent energy reduction in this fiscal year. There are simple steps we all can take that do make a significant difference. You can learn more about Switch Your Thinking and find tips to stay warm this winter.

Finally, we encourage you to continue sharing your ideas about ways our campus can become more efficient in these difficult times. We’ve received many thoughtful suggestions, many of which we’re looking into further or working to implement. We will provide an update on our progress in the near future. You can continue to share your thoughts online.

Thanks to each of you for what you do in your work and in your studies to make UT Knoxville a great university.

Posted December 1, 2008