The Current by PowerSave Campus HSU, November 2014 View this email in your browser

The PowerSave CurrentHumboldt State University

November 2014, Issue #92

In this issue...

Energy audits at campus eateries

PSC raises spirits with CCAT

Stakeholders play musical chairs

No-Cost Weatherization Program

Return of the Puzzle Page

Cheeseburgers = Climate Change

Efficiency tips for video gamers

On taking cold showers

A word from the Editors:

Dear reader,

We believe in contributing positively to ourcommunity. That is the purpose ofdescribing our efforts and expressing ouropinions in a monthly newsletter. Weappreciate your dedication to this end andwould like to invite you to join us insharing experiences.

Send us your thoughts or expressions thatillustrate your unique experience of ourworld in common. We'll post them here.

Cheers,JL & MW

Project Updates

Back by Popular Demand!Are you a student aspiring for a green job? Or are you a professional that supports

green career development? Then join us for Electric Connection: A Green Speed-

Networking Event on Thursday, November 13th from 5:30 to 7:30pm in the UC

South Lounge at Humboldt State University.

Serving-Up Energy Savings in the Kitchenby Delia Bense-Kang

I am excited to announce the implementation of two new kitchen audits on campus!The first is of the College Creek Marketplace and is in progress; the second is of

Windows Café and will be scheduled soon. After attending several of FishnickReasearch Engineer Kong Sham’s, kitchen audit workshops at various PowerSaveconferences I have been inspired to try a kitchen audit of my own. There are manyrelatively simple ways of saving large amounts of energy by replacing old appliancesor making easy behavior changes.

On October 7th myself and intern Monique Gil entered the College Creek kitchensurveys in-hand. It was surprising how many appliances were in use even in thisrelatively small kitchen. We were happy to see the kitchen manager was alreadyimplementing many energy saving practices. She explained to us how she turned offany extra fryers or ovens after the high-use morning period.

One of the most interesting of our findings was the sink aerator. We compared thestandard flow faucet with the aerated faucet with a flow measuring gage and thedifference was huge! An aerated faucet saves 30-50% water per gallon!

Even though we were happily surprised with the energy practices in this kitchenthere is still room for much energy savings. Next steps of this project includedetermining the viability of replacing old refrigerators, de-lamping and re-lamping,and creating a list of suggestions for the kitchen to follow. Hopefully we will see highsavings being cooked up soon!

PowerSave at The CCAT Harvest Festival!by Monique Gil

This month PowerSave Campus was invited to attend the Campus Center for

Appropriate Technology’s fifth annual Harvest Festival. CCAT is a live-in

demonstration for different appropriate technologies that promote sustainable living,

energy reduction, and water conservation.

True to CCAT tradition, Harvest Festival was a fun day of bluegrass, samba,

collaborative art projects, pumpkin carving, composting workshops and social

interaction! We participated by handing out shower timers, PSC mason jars and

recycled pencils to those who took part in our Energy and Water trivia game!

It is important for student organizations at Humboldt State to outreach and support

each other. The PowerSave team is thankful for the good relationship we have built

with CCAT and look forward to collaborating on projects in the future!

Movin' & Groovin' with our Stakeholdersby Jonathan Hearn

On Thursday, October 23rd the PowerSave team hosted a brief meeting to celebrate our

stakeholders, the faculty, staff and students that help make HSU a more energy and water

efficient campus. To set an affable tone, we all introduced ourselves by sharing either an

environmental pet peeve or guilty pleasure. It came as no surprise when we heard that

Sustainability & Waste Coordinator Morgan King gets very vocal about people throwing

away recyclables, and it was exciting to hear Student Affairs Vice President Dr. Peg Blake

take interest in PowerSave’s history and affiliation with Humboldt State. To capture that

enthusiasm, the team encouraged our stakeholders to write out short suggestions for

projects and improvements they would like to see PowerSave tackle.

The meeting closed with a rousing game of Integrated Demand Side Management (IDSM)

Musical Chairs. During the game our stakeholders acted as households and businesses,

first competing for available electricity, then cooperating to get one another back on the

grid (represented by the diminishing number of chairs) by self-regulating power usage.

After the game everyone walked away more educated about how individuals can have a

significant impact on the power grid by signing up with your electricity provider to use less

energy during peak usage times.

Thanks again to everyone who showed support!

Community ResourcesRedwood Coast Action Agency Opportunities!by Matthew Ware

Have you been looking to increase your efficiency within your home, but don't have the

funding to do so? Well, Redwood Coast Action Agency has a couple programs that might

be a great opportunity for you!

The first opportunity would be a free solar paneled water heating system installation! This

is where they come in and install solar panels on your roof to provide energy to heat the

water for your home.

The second opportunity that Redwood Coast Action Agency offers is a free home

weatherization and energy efficiency services! Home weatherization is where RCAA comes

in and installs measures to make your home retain heat more efficiently.

Both are great opportunities that both college students and the community can take

advantage of. There are qualifications for the program, so please contact Justin Fricker

at jfricker@rcaa.org from Redwood Coast Action Agency today to see if you qualify!

Puzzle Page

Energy Wordsearchby Tessa Lance

Viewpoints

The Low-Carbon Dietby Jenna Bader

A typical American household uses about 7,000-10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) ofelectricity every year. Each kWh we save keeps about 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide(CO2) out of the atmosphere.

Behavior change in the household is crucial in order to reduce our carbon dioxideemissions from the power plants that burn dirty coal. However, household energy useis a small fraction of the problem that plagues our atmosphere. Not many people are aware that the number one cause of global warming is the

livestock industry. A recent report by the United Nations concluded that the meatindustry causes almost 40% more emissions than all of the world's transportationsystems combined (including cars, planes, trucks, trains). If we shift our demand away from meat, and towards local, organic agriculture, wewill collectively make a dent in the industry, creating a decrease in supply. Shiftingyour diet to vegan or vegetarian is one of the most directly impactful ways that youcould individually help save our planet for future generations. Additionally, switching to organically grown foods immediately shifts your demand,towards healthy water, healthy soil, biodiversity, etc. and immediately takes moneyaway from agricultural practices that contaminate our planet. For more information on how organic agriculture can save our planet,visit: http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq6/en/

For more information on how veganism and vegetarianism can save our planet, alongwith amazing infographics on carbon dioxide emissions,visit: http://350colorado.org/infographics/

A Gamer's Start to Energy Reductionby Matthew Ware

This is the time of the year when the weather starts to get quite a bit colder and the rainstarts pouring, which makes you not want to go outside as often. That, along with manynew video games being released soon, will cause many of us to stay inside. This will causean increase in temperature, especially while playing video games or watching movies. Sohere are some tips to reduce energy consumption while enjoying a good game or movie!

1. Use power strips for all of your systems. This allows to you turn them all off at onceso that there aren't any phantom loads that continue to draw energy!

Phantom loads are energy that is being consumed by appliances that are stillactive, even though they aren't in use. This could be a light on a television orcomputer moniter indicating it is in standby mode.If you don't have a power strip, you could also unplug the system to preventenergy from being drawn. The newer gaming consoles have lights on themthat remain active constantly, which continually draws energy.

2. If you are getting cold while watching a movie or playing video games, go grab ablanket instead of turning up the temperature on your thermostat!

Also, keep curtains shut if you either don't need natural light or if it is darkout. This will prevent thermal energy from escaping through the window!

3. Try to use as much natural light throughout the day! If you are relying on yourlighting fixtures to light your room, then you are using a large amount of energy.

Along with this, think about where you are setting up your television orcomputer monitor! If you are wanting to use natural light, don't set up yourt.v. or monitor so that it is facing the window. This will cause a glare, andprevent you from seeing the screen!

4. For gaming consoles, try to purchase rechargeable battery packs for the controllersinstead of just using the batteries!

This will cut down on your e-waste!

5. Okay, we know that your back lit keyboard with multiple different colors is neat, butturn it off if possible when there is enough light that you can see the keys just fine!

This will reduce the amount of energy your keyboard or laptop is using andyour laptop battery will last much longer!

6. Change the brightness on your computer monitor or television depending on howmuch light is present in the room!

If there isn't that much light present, then you won't need your screen verybright. This not only reduces energy consumption, but will also preventfatigue on your eyes!

7. When you are gaming on your computer, make sure to manage your backgroundapplications that are running.

This can not only slow down your computer, but causes more energy lossespecially if your computer needs to increase fan usage.

The last word

J-Lo Unpluggedby John Lococo

For 34 days (and counting) I have been living with limited electricity and no gas. At my

house that means no hot water, no furnace, no stove, no lights. An extension cord from my

neighbor’s house powers my fridge and wireless internet modem. Besides that, I’m off the

grid. I light candles at night. I cook with a cast iron dutch oven over charcoal briquettes. I

boil water with a propane camping stove on my front porch. Cold showers? Yes, they’re

breathtaking. Hot showers at a friend’s house? Of course, I’m only human.

At first, life in the Dark Ages wasn’t so bad; in fact it was fun – like when there’s an outage

and you turn on the flashlights and tell scary stories. But after a couple cold mornings the

initial excitement subsided. And after a few nights, I needed new batteries and more

propane. At one week, the food in my freezer – my pizza dough, Papa’s spaghetti sauce, my

girlfriend’s chicken soup, the homies’ ling cod – had thawed. A downward spiral ensued.

The utility gods had forsaken me. Had I failed to pay my respect to modern energy

systems? What hubris?! I called my neighbor, “Can I borrow some electricity?”

For clarity, I did not choose to banish myself from the amenities of grid connectivity.

Unforeseen circumstances decided for me, the details of which are not important here. The

point is that the forced reservation of resources normally at my disposal has been a mixed

blessing. By unplugging entirely and without warning, I realized that even I, a devout

PowerSaver, take access to public utilities for granted. (Joni Mitchell’s lyrics spin like a

record around my mind, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got

‘til it’s gone.”)

Truly, my appreciation for good public services has grown, as has my imagination for

improving them. I now have a more tangible understanding of the necessity for resilient,

local systems. The power sources that feed my community seem out-of-reach, and the

importance for local renewable generation seems understated.

In one month without power, I have learned a lot. I’ve learned to take less (and shorter)

showers. I’ve learned that dimming the screen on my laptop makes the battery last longer.

I’ve learned that it’s hard to barbeque in the rain. But ultimately, I’ve learned how to live

without power and like it.

Contact UsJohn Lococo, Team Manager -- jml118@humboldt.edu

Matthew Ware, Project Coordinator -- mlw314@humboldt.edu

Jenna Bader, Chief of Metrics -- jbader@humboldt.edu

Delia Bense-Kang, Treasurer -- dede1bk@gmail.com

Rachael Londer, Green Workplace Assessor -- rcl45@humboldt.edu

Copyright © 2014 Humboldt State PowerSave Campus, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:powersavehsu@gmail.com

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