Facilities Management

Be Energy Wise!

In 2006 the UWA Crawley site used enough electricity to emit greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 8,000 cars on the road!

95% of our electricity in the Perth area comes from non-renewable sources, mainly coal and gas, which makes your everyday electricity consumption a significant contributor to climate change. For every unit of electricity you consume almost 1 kilogram of carbon dioxide is emitted.

Remember that coal is burning as your lights are burning.

Its simple to conserve energy in the office or lab by switching off - lights, computers, electronic equipment & monitors. Every time you switch off you contribute directly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental Services encourages the management of energy by reducing waste and increasing efficient use. Join the Green Office programme to learn about more energy saving measures for your area.

What you can do to conserve energy

There are a lot of misconceptions about how to save energy or that power managing computers may have detrimental effects. This is not true and all staff should adhere to this list of energy management initiatives in an effort to manage greenhouse emissions.

Lighting

Use natural light wherever possible.
Switch lights off whenever you leave the room (it is a myth that switching lights off and on uses more energy).
Encourage colleagues to switch off lights in common use areas such as meeting rooms, kitchens and well lit stair wells.
During after hours and holiday periods ensure lights are switched off.
Designate a staff members/s (the people that are usually last to leave) to switch off lights after hours.
If you notice that automatic lighting controls are switching lights on after hours notify your building manager or Facilities Management.
Notify Facilities Management if incandescent lighting is present.
Place 'Turn Off' stickers on light switches - contact the Environmental Officer to order.

Office Equipment

Switch off all printers and photocopiers at night.
Do not have many individual printers in the office, use shared multifunction devices instead - saves you money on consumables as well.
Ensure all printers, multifunction devices, faxes and computers are Energy Star compliant and ensure that the Energy Star power saving features are activated by the technician on or before delivery. Energy Star is the international standard for energy efficient office equipment.
The last person to leave is to be responsible for turning off all electronic equipment.
Select the most energy efficient equipment when purchasing, including fridges, TV's, DVD's, dishwashers and microwaves. Check out the Energy Rating (number of stars & energy consumption) of the appliance.

Computers

If you're leaving your computer for more than 1 hour, switch the monitor off or shut down the computer.
Switch the Computer AND Monitor off after hours, otherwise the monitor still uses standby power all night.
Ensure that your IT stafff have enabled your computer power saving functions so that:
a) the monitor turns off after 15 minutes
b) the hard disk turns off after 20 minutes
c) system goes into standby after 30 minutes
(this will not affect your computer in any way)
Delete the screensaver as they do not save energy.

Heating, Cooling and Ventilation

Dress appropriately for the season.
If you have manual air conditioning controls or split systems ensure the last person to leave switches off.
Keep doors and windows closed when heating or cooling.
Try to use natural ventilation (windows) rather than fans or air handling units.
Individual heaters or fans must not be used in areas that are air conditioned.
Individual heaters and fans must be switched off after hours.
Individual heaters must be supplied by Facilities Management and have a timer - see Policy.

Laboratory

Shut the sash on fume hoods - the average fume hood uses 3 ½ times the energy of a house in a year! Keeping the sash closed when you’re not using the hood can reduce energy use by 30-60%.
Use energy efficient equipment - look for the most efficient option available when replacing lab equipment. For common items like refrigerators get the highest Energy Rating for the size that you require.
Wait until you have full loads to run equipment such as glass washers and autoclaves.
Turn off non-essential lab equipment when not in use.
Use Compact Fluorescent lights - if you have task lights in your lab, replace any incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents and reduce energy use by up to 60%. The bulb also lasts much longer.

Policies