“This will be the worst presentation you’ve ever seen,” began Tod Holland, the Energy Conservation Project Manager from the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives. He was wrong. Holland presented a funny, realistic, and optimistic story of Williams carbon, conservation, and cogeneration past, present, and future. Since he signed on at Williams, Holland has implemented ten projects that are already saving the school $150,000 a year.
Holland introduced the talk by arguing that the most important thing we can do right now to cut our carbon emissions is to increase efficiency. Over half of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere is categorized as “lost energy.” “How do we get that?” he asked: “first, we change how we use it.”
Holland’s first projects at Williams have dealt with implementing more energy efficient lighting. Each chandelier in Chapin hall now has 26 LED lights, which use 75% less energy than conventional lighting. Projects have already implemented more efficient lighting in the pool and the field house, and work on the ice rink will begin soon. At Amherst, where he formerly worked, the college spent $75,000 to re-do the lighting in their rink in 2005, and since then they have gotten back $200,000 in energy savings. The swimming pool changes cost $154,000 and will get back $28,000 per year.
Holland then went on to a discussion of solar hot water. At Suzie Hopkins, a rooftop solar water heater heats 22% of their water. However, Holland pointed out that his efficient showerhead saves 33% of water used, trumping the expensive solar technology. Models used to predict solar potentiality found that solar panels covering the library would save 1.7% of total library energy usage in a year. Holland argues that insulation and air sealing can do way more than that. Holland sincerely believes in the notion that “the greenest energy is energy not used.”
By Claire Lafave ’12
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