Operational Changes

Several buildings achieved substantial emissions reductions by making operational changes. The School of Art revised the architect’s desire to make the building a “beacon of light” for the neighborhood at night and worked with Facilities to turn the lights off at reasonable hours. Betts House, home to the Office of International Affairs, worked with students from Office of Sustainability to identify energy saving opportunities, and found that one of the thermostats was jammed, locking the building into occupied mode for a long period of time. Betts House worked with its independent energy service consultant to replace the thermostat, achieving significant energy savings with a simple solution. The building also worked with Facilities to adjust heating and cooling setpoints and HVAC schedules, and are currently considering physical solutions including lighting retrofits and occupancy sensors.

A major factor in the success of Betts House is the leadership of its carbon charge manager, Ted Wittenstein, Director of International Relations & Leadership Programs for Yale's Office of International Affairs. As Ted served on both the Carbon Charge Task Force and Steering Committee, it is likely that energy actions at Betts House were driven by its leader’s intrinsic motivations rather than by the price signal from the carbon charge.