CU Student Stats From GreenStone Survey

Fact drawn from survey

• Average resident shower length is about 13 min
• this uses 20 gallons more water than a 5 minute shower
• if all 5,500 freshman shower 13 min every day, 22,000,000 more gallons are used than if all showers were 5 minutes
• this is equivalent to 44 Olympic sized pools
• reducing by this amount would decrease CU's water by 10%
• 1/6 of students keep water running while brushing teeth or shaving
• this wastes an additional 1,000,000 gallons, or 2 Olympic sized pools

Sydney's Olympic Swimming Pool

• Using hot water in laundry consumes 85% more energy than cold water
• this is equivalent to leaving a refrigerator door open for 1 year
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• Fan use: If roughly every dorm room (2,750 at CU) uses one table fan for 12 hours a day for 100 days, this costs CU $33,000
• Fan Use: Roughly 350 tons of CO2 are released from fan use in the dorms
• 50% of survey takers said their fans are on all day and night during the warmer months
• TV use: An average TV using 100w running for 2 hrs/day uses 20kWh/yr
• Roughly 60 tons of C02 are released from TV use in the dorms

CU Energy and Sustainability Stats

CU Boulder is responsible for 4.7 tons of CO2 per student every year
*given this statistic, we know there is potential for a large area of improvement; thus GreenStone's goal is to increase energy efficiency awareness to set into motion energy saving habits.


Electricity Statistics

• 40% of CU's energy costs come from heating
• Baker Hall, a resident hall on CU campus, spent $52,733.90 on electricity in 2009. In 2009, the same hall spent $59,137.50
• The cost of energy on CU campus is close to $25 million/year... and growing
• CU used about 15,000 desktops/laptops, which consumes 4-5% of electricity
• CU consumes 120 million kWH of electricity per year.

To see energy consumption patterns at a couple CU dorms, go to Building Dashboard

Baker Hall, Boulder Colorado

Why GreenStone?

WHY GreenStone?

The capstone course we are involved in prompted us to pick a problem area and design an intervention. After creating a survey for freshman students on campus, we quickly saw the need for energy efficiency education on campus. We believe that  through implementing programs designed to inform students about ways to save energy, we could positively and significantly impact energy habits of freshman students. The facts from the survey are posted above, on the next blog entry.

Capstone Course Begins

Goal: 

Conservation Education and Sustainability Awareness in Residential Life on Campus

Programs/Strategy:

Our first endeavor is pioneering the 'Go Digital' program on CU Campus. By teaming up with EcoStar, we hope to receive the Sustainable CU grant for $1,600, and install display screens in several dorms. These screens would host a myriad of information including public announcements for residential life, tips to reduce energy use, and videos highlighting sustainable practices. Through the application of these screens, we would mitigate paper use and waste.