Energy

Skidmore is an energy-conscious college and has committed to an array of initiatives to reduce its energy consumption.

Occupancy Sensor Initiative:  In the spirit of energy conservation and carbon emission reductions, Facilities Services is in the process of installing occupancy sensors in appropriate applications campus wide in offices, classrooms and restrooms.

Geothermal Heating and Cooling: The Northwoods Village Apartments and the Murray-Aikins dining hall have geothermal heating and cooling systems. The two geothermal systems provide 100% of the cooling needs of the apartments and the dining hall. The geothermal systems provide about 70% of the heating needs of the apartment and 95% of the heating needs of the dining hall. (Note: the dining hall also benefits from the heat produced from cooking.) Skidmore also plans to heat and cool the new Zankel Music Building with a geothermal system. For more information on geothermal energy, please click here.

Campus Building Temperature Initiative:

Please click the menu on the right hand side of the screen to download Skidmore's Campus Building Temperature Initiative, which was designed to save energy during the heating and cooling seasons.

 

 

 

 November 1st-November 22nd

Residence Hall Energy Conservation Competition:  For the first three weeks of November, Skidmore residents will compete residence hall against residence hall to try and reduce their energy consumption by the greatest percentage.  This fall, Skidmore College individually metered each resident hall so students can now see how much electricity each residence hall is using in real time. 

The Communications Design II class created all of the fantastic publicity for the event.  The logo, emails, stickers, posters,tips, brochures, light switch stickers and a building dashboard website were all their creations.  The Skidmore Eco-Reps will also do a light bulb exchange and offer individual room energy audits during the competition!

The Skidmore Unplugged Trophy, pictured above, was created by John Galt's Advanced Sculpture class.  A special thanks to Dave Rollins and Charlie Engelman for their efforts on the trophy!  The trophy will be displayed in Case Center and the winning residence hall from each year will be engraved on a small plaque on the trophy.

Sustainable Skidmore will award the winning residence hall the Skidmore Unplugged trophy created by a Skidmore Sculpture student and each student living in the resident hall will win a prize.  The prizes include gift certificates to various downtown restaurants, the Skidshop and some Skidshop reusable bags with eco-friendly products.

The compact fluorescent light bulbs and prizes were in part donated by a former F. William Harder Professor of Management and Business. 

LED Exit Lights: Skidmore is in the process of replacing older, inefficient exit lights with 4.7 watt LED lights

Updated Transformers and Motors: Skidmore has replaced older electric transformers and heating-plant motors with more efficient models.

Cold Water Wash: Skidmore's washing machines use only cold water to reduce energy demands.

Variable Frequency Drives: Skidmore has installed variable frequency drives on all high-horsepower motors to maximize energy efficiency. Variable frequency drives control motor speed by adjusting the alternating current waveform. With the older variable-resistor method, more electrical energy is lost as heat.