The University of Idaho Argonaut

Ask A. B. Rakesh Kamal where any room is in the SUB or Idaho Commons and he’ll give you detailed directions. After the miles he and Harshana Thimmanna have logged touring buildings on campus, the two have become veritable experts when it comes to their layout.

However, the two University of Idaho graduate students aren’t simply out seeing the sights, they’re counting illuminated light bulbs, recording temperatures and noting what switches are set to on.  

“We went into each room and investigated,” Kamal said.
“We’d peek through the windows and see that all the computers were on all night,” Thimmanna said.
Their search is part of a grant-funded project to assess energy consumption, why that energy is used and how it can be decreased.

Their project is one of three selected by UI’s Sustainability Center to help produce a more sustainable campus. Kamal and Thimmanna received $10,650 to spend on their project.

Since fall semester, the group has compared the energy use of 12 buildings. Kamal and Thimmanna worked closely with Richard Nagy of the UI facility management department in order to calculate daily energy use of each building.

Nagy said he had many discussions with the group about how to fairly compare buildings. Each were categorized in six groups based on function: auxiliary, residence halls, offices, classrooms, labs and recreation.

With Nagy’s support, Kamal and Thimmanna also gave some consideration to the age of each building, making sure to compare the energy use of a new building with that of an old.

Nagy said people tend to think that on-campus buildings use energy much like a house would, which isn’t true. For example, Nagy said most older buildings don’t have temperature options, when it comes to heat the choice is either on or off.

“The system is not broken,” Nagy said. “That is how it was intended to be run.”
Also contrary to popular belief, newer buildings with such comfort features as temperature scales tend to use even more energy than the old.

Kamal and Thimmanna both agree that the biggest task will be spreading the word about energy issues on campus and little things people can do to reduce use such as turning off lights and computers when they are not in use. The two have had booths outside the Idaho Commons where they measured the carbon footprint of visitors. They have also attended community meetings of both the Wallace Complex and Theophilus Tower to inform residents of their cause.

“Addressing a larger mass is the problem,” Thimmanna said.

“You need to keep reminding people,” Kamal said.
In the near future Kamal and Thimmanna will be conducting surveys in all selected buildings in order to determine how residents use the facility as well as how conscious they are of everyday conservation acts they can do themselves.