{"id":38327,"date":"2015-08-14T14:44:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T21:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=38327"},"modified":"2015-08-14T14:44:50","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T21:44:50","slug":"employees-working-to-reduce-campus-energy-expenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/employees-working-to-reduce-campus-energy-expenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Employees working to reduce campus energy expenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For recreation and fitness coordinator\u00a0<strong>Akayla Jaeke<\/strong>, forging a culture of sustainability on campus is an important part of creating a better future. After attending an orientation in early 2014, Jaeke joined the growing ranks of NAU\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/nau.edu\/facility-services\/energy\/gnei\/energy-mentors\/\">Energy Mentors<\/a> and has implemented numerous policies in Campus Recreation Services.<\/p>\n<p>Department changes include switching to electronic instead of paper-based processes, using natural light when possible and encouraging employees to use stairs instead of an elevator.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLearning ways to save energy and resources are transferable skills for home and life,\u201d said Jaeke, who said sharing these ideas with employees and students\u00a0has long-term benefits for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>After learning about the vampire effect, caused by idle appliances sucking up energy, Jaeke began using power strips that are turned off at the end of the workday. She also began using them at home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cut my energy bill by $40 a month and my bill was already small. This behavior change across campus could make a huge difference in NAU\u2019s budget,\u201d Jaeke said.<\/p>\n<p>Following a recently completed <a href=\"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/action-attitude-lay-groundwork-green-campus\/#.Vc4reXj9omQ\">energy efficiency project,<\/a> NAU expects to save $1.5 million per year. Upgrades\u00a0included\u00a0retrofits such as lighting, heating and cooling upgrades, and low-flow toilets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to improve the energy awareness of the entire university community,\u201d said <strong>Nick Koressel<\/strong>, who leads NAU\u2019s Energy Mentors Program along with <strong>Avi Henn<\/strong>. Simple behaviors like turning off the lights when leaving a room add up over time, he said, and\u00a0educating faculty and staff about how to talk to colleagues will significantly reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n<p>The Energy Mentors program\u00a0recently reached 100 participants, a number Koressel would\u00a0like to double in the short term. To\u00a0become a mentor, employees attend a 90-minute orientation and share information with coworkers when they return to the office.<\/p>\n<p>NAU also participates in the national <a href=\"http:\/\/nau.edu\/residence-life\/life-on-campus\/sustainability\/ecorep\/\">Eco Rep Program<\/a>, targeted to students and others living on campus, who can reduce energy use by making behavioral changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"search-results-excerpt-link\" href=\"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/employees-working-to-reduce-campus-energy-expenses\/\">For recreation and fitness coordinator\u00a0Akayla Jaeke, forging a culture of sustainability on campus is an important part of creating a better future. After attending an orientation in early 2014, Jaeke joined the growing ranks of NAU\u2019s Energy Mentors and has implemented numerous policies in Campus Recreation Services. Department changes include switching to electronic instead of&hellip;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":38328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}