Switch Your Thinking Success

To: UT Knoxville Faculty, Staff and Students
From: Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek
Subject: Switch Your Thinking Success

Today our campus is announcing that we are now halfway to our goal of a 10 percent energy reduction this fiscal year as part of the Switch Your Thinking effort. Your willingness to make changes in your everyday life on campus is having a direct impact on our bottom line. I want to take a moment to tell you more about this accomplishment, and thank you for your work on this important conservation goal.

As of March 1, we have reduced campus energy consumption by 5 percent compared to last fiscal year. That reduction, a result of your efforts and the work of Facilities Services in implementing the new energy conservation policy, has led to a savings of $559,000. Our success has not gone unrecognized, as other UT campuses have reached out to us for guidance on similar efforts.

Below, you will find the text of a press release with more information about this accomplishment. As we move forward, I encourage each of you to think about ways you can continue to contribute to this and other efforts designed to preserve and maximize our limited resources.

If you have a suggestion about a way that our campus can reach our goal of a 10 percent energy reduction, please don't hesitate to let me know.
You can submit your suggestions online.

Thank you again for your commitment to energy saving and sustainability on campus.

Posted March 23, 2009