6/20/12: Heat Wave - Energy Conservation Help Needed
Dear Members of the CUMC Community,
Because of today's severe heat and record-breaking temperatures, Columbia University Medical Center would like to share what we are doing to reduce energy consumption during the summer, what you can do to help and ways to protect yourself from the heat.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
To avoid unnecessary energy use and maintain comfort levels in the buildings, the Department of Facilities Management is implementing our energy reduction plan for the CUMC campus that includes:
- Running emergency generators,
- Cutting non-critical equipment,
- Shutting down an elevator in each of the Black, P&S, Hammer, Russ Berrie and ICRC, and
- Monitoring heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems’ performance.
Please know that Facilities staff is available to provide prompt responses to service requests and emergencies. Our CUMC Facilities Customer Service Center (305-4357 (HELP) x 3) is prepared to handle increased client calls and requests.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
At this point, we ask that you assist us in this effort to curtail our usage and protect critical equipment. Each of us can help respond to this emergency.
- Turn off lights, appliances, electronics, and any unnecessary office equipment.
- Ensure copiers and printers are off or are in "power save" mode if not in use.
- Keep exterior doors, windows, shades and blinds closed to avoid allowing in additional heat.
- Close windows and doors of unoccupied rooms.
- Turn off window air conditioners in unoccupied rooms.
- Turn off your lights and computer screen when leaving your office for any extended period.
- Set air conditioner fan speeds to the lowest setting possible and keep thermostats as high as possible.
- Look for every opportunity to reduce electrical usage.
- Report service problems to the Facilities Customer Service Center at 305-HELP x 3.
Not only will these efforts help curtail our energy consumption, it will also help to reduce the introduction of additional heat into our buildings, keeping everyone cooler.
We also want to remind you that to ensure safety and security of critical equipment in the case of an emergency, all critical equipment should be plugged into the red emergency outlets to guarantee power supply.
Thank you for your cooperation and patience. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out via email at cumc.facilities@columbia.edu.