UVic Holiday Closure-Energy Conservation
DATE: Monday, December 17, 2018
TO: Managers, Directors, Chairs and Deans
FROM: Gary Bridgens, Director, Maintenance & Operations, Facilities Management
RE: UVic Holiday Closure | Energy Conservation
The University of Victoria is once again planning for a “green” holiday season break and we are asking for your assistance in helping to reduce the carbon footprint. As part of our goal to make UVic a leader in sustainability, we have identified a number of actions to save energy and conserve our resources during the closure.
In addition having reduced the temperature in buildings across the campus to deal with the gas shortage we will also implement the usual temperature reduction program during the holiday season.
From, December 24th, 2018 – January 2nd, 2019, temperatures in all major buildings will be lowered to 16°C. Exhaust fans, fume hoods and building lighting will be turned off where possible, after consultation by Facilities Management with researchers. All staff are encouraged to ensure that any equipment such as heaters, printers, and fans are turned off as well. The temperature in areas that are sensitive to temperature change (i.e. animal care, certain research areas, etc.) will not be lowered during this period.
We expect that these simple strategies will reduce UVic’s greenhouse gas emissions during this time period by approximately 100 tonnes, substantially reducing our carbon footprint and energy costs.
If you are working over the holiday closure, please wear a sweater rather than plugging in a portable heater as these can be unsafe and will negate the energy savings earned by turning down the heat.
We appreciate the efforts of the campus community to help us reduce energy waste on campus.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Gary Bridgens, Director of Maintenance & Operations, Facilities Management, at 250-721-6553 or bridgens@uvic.ca.