California residents are urged to cut down the use of air conditioners and lighting to conserve energy through numerous advertisements and mailers. But Cal State Long Beach has its own ways of conserving energy to keep the campus energy efficient.
Tim Ball, associate director of Facilities Management, oversees all of the energy used throughout campus and he makes sure the energy used is as efficient as possible.
“CSU Long Beach is the leader of all the CSUs in energy conservation measures, Ball said. “We’ve done more on our campus than any other campus with the resources that we’ve had.”
The central plant, which is located east of the Student Union, is one facility at Cal State Long Beach that conserves energy. It goes through a process called thermal energy, which freezes water in the evening in an ice tank. He said that ice is then used to cool the campus, instead of using electricity for cooling, when it is hot during peak hours.
Ball said the plant also provides heating, cooling and air-conditioning for the entire campus.
The pool behind the Physical Education Building is also heated in an efficient manner. A process called cogeneration takes natural gas through a natural gas generator to produce electricity. That heat from the electricity is then used to heat the pool.
“We use the waste heat to heat the pool,” Ball said. “We are reclaiming unspent energy to fulfill a need.”
The lighting on campus is also energy as the campus uses fluorescent lights. Also, some lighting is controlled by motion sensors.
“About 60 percent of the campus has some type of motion control or automated lighting control,” Ball said. “That’s very efficient for a campus our size.”
He recommends that students and faculty can help with energy conservation by closing windows and doors while air conditioning is in use. He also recommends that lights and computers be turned off when they are not needed.
Jon Root, the manager of Integrated Waste Management for Facilities Management, said “the balance of the proceeds comes back to the university. Non-profit organizations and schools are also donated some of the surplus materials.”
CSULB has various recycle bins throughout campus for the recycling of paper, bottles and cans. Some landscape debris is also reused by being shredded and used as mulch throughout campus.
The ASI Recycling Center has many forms of recycling that allows our campus to be environmentally friendly.
Kirsten Stava, the recycling coordinator of the center, discussed what is recycled on campus and how the campus can improve the recycling program.
She said students and faculty recycle materials on campus such as paper, plastic, scrap metal, tin cans, cardboard, aluminum cans, glass, food and beverage containers, cell phones and accessories. Last year, about 15 percent of the material the recycling center received came from campus, Stava said.
She said the way to improve the campus’ recycling program would be through “more education, more advertising, better receptacle set-ups. Also, it would be great to start a composting program, university-wide. A lot of trash can be composted instead of dumped/incinerated.”