The Greener Side
By: Michael Caffrey
On October 19th, the kickoff event for Green Week, a round-table discussion, was held in the basement of Maginnes. One quote in particular captured my ear by the end of the event.
Gary Falasca, director of facilities and services discussed what Lehigh was doing to become more “green” after receiving a “D” on our environmental report card. He disagreed with the “D” rating, and claimed that things other colleges were getting acclaim for Lehigh had done ten or fifteen years ago. These included replacing the lights in Stabler arena and an overall retrofit of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) and lighting within the university as a whole.
I applaud Lehigh’s efforts at following the societal movement towards general greenery. However, one thing was absent from the discussion at large: motive. The HVAC retrofit was done at a cost of 4.7 million dollars, and while that can be considered a tremendous expense, in actuality the University saved 4.7 million dollars over the following ten years in energy expenditures. The Stabler arena lighting project cost around $50,000 and would pay for itself in only four years. Projects such as these typically fall under “Performance Contracting” and are commonplace at Schools and public buildings throughout the country.
Profit, not a newfound sense of environmental consciousness was the driving force behind these changes. I have nothing against Lehigh taking active steps to become greener where feasible. However, I object when Green-correctness begins to cost students more than it saves the University.
