The Boston University administration is not doing enough to curb energy costs that are higher than ever, the result of a growing campus and students’ wasteful lifestyles that contribute to increased carbon dioxide emissions, according to an environment professor who spoke at an Energy Club meeting last night.
The school should emphasize energy efficiency, said professor Cutler Cleveland at the meeting in the College of Arts and Sciences, adding the findings of a report he headed show a substantial increase of campus energy output since 1991.
A major barrier to BU’s progress is its leadership, Cleveland said, adding he submitted a report to President Robert Brown and Provost David Campbell two years ago to address greenhouse gas emissions, but he has not received a response from either.
BU has also increased its use of natural gases through two heating plants, which partially reduces consumption, Cleveland said. The heaters, in central campus and on Buick Street, are more environmentally friendly because they do not require oil purchases.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Cleveland said about the results of his study, “but I wasn’t surprised by the [amount of] energy we use.”
The Energy Club, which has been an official BU organization for a week, brainstormed with about 65 students on how BU can better manage its energy output.
Cleveland and his researchers have been looking at energy emissions on the Charles River Campus for the past few years, focusing on “what [types of energy] we use, how much we use and where we use it,” he said.
Cleveland said he analyzed other institutions’ energy-awareness policies and found BU severely lacking in initiatives. While BU is more active in its attempts to lower emissions than Boston College, Emory University and George Washington University, it falls far behind Cornell University, New York University and Northeastern University, according to his research.
The three latter universities are signatories to the American College ‘ University President’s Climate Commitment, which aims to promote awareness about energy waste and the related risk of global warming. Other schools are buying renewable energy and are working to use energy more efficiently, Cleveland said.
The Energy Club is bringing students together from CAS, the College of Engineering and the School of Management to approach the problem from different angles, said club president Peter Zink, an ENG post-graduate student.
CAS junior Mary Flannelly said students should be more aware of wasted energy, especially because lights and electrical appliances are frequently left on, but the university should make an effort as well.
“It was disconcerting that President Brown and the Provost [received Cleveland’s report and] have done nothing to improve the situation,” she said.
Construction for the Student Village 2, scheduled to be completed in 2009, involves several environmentally friendly components, including rooftop rainwater systems and technology that will shut off lights, heating and air-conditioning in rooms that are inactive.
At a clean-energy conference at SMG in April, Brown said finding sustainable fuel sources is an urgent matter for BU.
“We need to see . . . new energy giants of the 21st Century,” he said.