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OGDEN — The goal: Be carbon neutral by 2050.
Weber State University has big energy plans for its Weber and Davis campuses. In the next 40 years, they hope to have two campuses that remove as much carbon emissions from the air as they put in.
“We will reduce the amount of carbon emission,” said Kevin Hansen, associate vice president for Facilities Management at WSU. “Those we can’t reduce, we’ll find alternative methods and needs, go to more renewable sources.”
In late 2008, WSU started an initiative to be a more Earth-friendly campus, Hansen said, and developed a climate action plan in October 2009.
“We’ve been working on it very aggressively ever since,” he said.
Some changes are small — installing bike racks, planting trees, recycling trash — while others have huge impact on the campus, such as modernizing irrigation systems, building a new chiller plant and renovating the Shepherd Union Building.
“The initial steps have been fairly easy,” Hansen said. “Some were easy, and they didn’t have much of an impact on people. Where we are getting now is where people will see more of an impact.”
There’s no project bigger in terms of cost savings and energy emissions as changing the lighting around campus. Hansen said Facilities Management will assess every room on both campuses and decide what type of lighting would work best for use and energy efficacies.
“The lighting has the greatest potential for savings,” he said. “And it’s one people will see the most.”
The steps taken so far have already yielded financial results for the university.
Last year alone, Hansen said, the school saved $439,115. Since 2007, the school has reduced its carbon footprint by 6,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.
Besides the monetary savings, Hansen said there were other reasons why the school decided to buckle down on going green.
“There’s no doubt that man burning all these carbon-based fuels has an impact on the environment,” he said. “The university has a responsibility to lead in finding new ways and new opportunities to reduce that impact.”
The effort also serves to provide an example for students.
“It shows them innovative and creative ways to move things forward, not get stuck in a rut in the past,” he said.
New buildings being constructed around the campus have also been designed to reduce the university’s carbon footprint.
Both the Hurst Center for Lifelong Learning and Elizabeth Hall received LEED silver certification and meet state high-performance energy-efficiency standards.
Plans for a new residential housing complex also include designs for LEED silver certification.