The Samford Crimson
' ■ Serving Samford University Since 1915 ■
Volume 102. Issue 5
Fiesta
Birmignham
comes alive
in the Steel
City
October 6. 2016
samfoi dcrimson.com
News , 2
Getting
to know
Reece
Everett
fLl
Sports , 3
* Life is a
ball" at new
meatball
restaurant
ч
Features, 5
Why the
Black Lives
Matter
movement
matters
Opinions, 8
SAM CHANDLER
Managing Editor
Waste nothing.
That’s the message Samford Presi¬
dent Andrew Westmoreland issued
to the campus community on Sat¬
urday, Oct. l, when he unveiled the
university’s new conservation ini¬
tiative in his First Thoughts email.
Westmoreland announced that Sam-
ford’s aging infrastructure will be updat¬
ed over the course of the next six years,
beginning in 2016. He said the upgrades
will minimize the university’s environ¬
mental footprint, increase its energy
efficiency and reduce associated costs.
“Much of the machinery for heating
and cooling the 2.5 million square feet of
space within our buildings is antiquat¬
ed, using far more electricity, natural
gas and water than is necessary,” West¬
moreland said in the email. “In short,
our stewardship can be much better.”
According to Amber Kustos, co¬
ordinator for environmental stew¬
ardship and campus enhance¬
ment, the first phase of the six-year
project has already commenced.
She said the chiller plant that pro¬
vides cooling for central, west and
north campus is in the process of be¬
ing replaced. Later this academic year,
she said the university plans to imple¬
ment a variety of other energy-saving
measures. Notably, these include the
installation of new windows in a num¬
ber of academic buildings and resi¬
dence halls, namely in Vail and Smith.
Kustos said the project’s first install¬
ment, which is titled the 2016 Campus
Infrastructure Improvement Plan, rep¬
resents a significant step toward estab¬
lishing sustained energy efficiency. The
upgrades, she said, will yield savings that
extend forward two to three decades.
“We see it as a financial respon¬
sibility to manage our student’s tu¬
ition wisely,” Kustos said, “but we
also believe there's a biblical com¬
mitment to be good stewards of the
natural gifts God has provided us.”
Johnson Controls, Inc., a global
company specializing in the design of
sustainable, energy-efficient technol¬
ogy, has been contracted to perform
the work on Samford’s campus. Ac¬
cording to Westmoreland’s email, the
initial, two-year phase is projected
to cost the university $31 million.
Samford, however, will
not pay the fee up front.
Kustos said that improvements
made to campus facilities will reduce
utility costs by a margin that will off¬
set the cost of upgrades. If the re¬
sults do not materialize, Kustos said,
Johnson Controls will bear the risk.
“Once the full cost of the improve¬
ments are covered, the program contin¬
ues to produce savings for the university
to be used at its discretion,” Kustos said.
According to Kustos, Samford is guar¬
anteed to save over $1.65 million on an¬
nual energy costs in the first year after
installation. When adding in water and
operational savings, she said that num¬
ber increases to more than $2 million
annually— and it will continue to rise.
“In the 20th year, savings actu¬
ally top $3.1 million," Kustos said.
In his email, Westmoreland said the
improvements should result in an¬
nual campus reductions of more than
15,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide
and 20 million gallons of water. He
said the minimized environmental im¬
pact aligns with the university’s stra¬
tegic plan, along with one of its core
values: stewardship of all resources.
“This project improves campus infra¬
structure, sustains financial strength,
engages the entire campus commu¬
nity and it conserves and preserves our
natural resources,” Kustos said. “For
our students, this means we can keep
our tuition as low as possible, some
buildings will be more comfortable,
and lighting levels will be improved.”
William Ashley, a sophomore phi¬
losophy major, said he read Westmo¬
reland’s Saturday morning email. The
initiative has garnered his approval.
“I don't know the technical details, but
it seems like it could be a good way to save
money and protect the environment.”
SAM CHANDLER, MANAGING EDITOR
2016-2017 academic
year initiatives
• Replace chiller plant
that provides cooling for
central, west and north
campus
• Replace windows in
Smith, Vail, Brooks, Bu¬
chanan, DBH, OBB, Reid,
Chapman, Burns and
Samford halls
• Upgrade lighting and
controls in almost every
building
• Install domestic water
conservation measures
across campus
• Install well water irriga¬
tion systems at intramu¬
ral and soccer fields
• Install building controls
that allow the university
to operate the buildings
from a central location
so that air condition¬
ing and heating can be
adjusted to maximize
comfort and efficiency
Samford University Library
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