An important, often underappreciated tool, fume hoods make labs safer to work in; they also lead to over a quarter of N.C. State’s electricity use.  Raising awareness of facts like these is one of the goals of Change Your State.

Change Your State is the most recent effort of the Sustainability Office to make N.C. State’s community aware of its environmental impact. 

David Dean, outreach coordinator for the Sustainability Office, explained why the University is moving away from its “Just Switch It” campaign.

“We want to do away with “Just Switch It” and do something more holistic,” Dean said.

Initially developed by an MBA creativity class in the College of Management, Change Your State will be the vehicle through which the Sustainability Office distributes information to students. 

Campaigns include “Hit the Switch” and “Pull the Plug”, which encourage people to turn off unneeded lights and to unplug chargers and appliances when not in use.  In coming years, Change Your State may promote other environmentally friendly practices. 

“We are focusing on energy now, but in the future we might switch to buy local or try transit,” Dean said

Dean explained the current focus on electricity consumption.

“The reason we are targeting electricity is because students and staff and faculty have more control over electricity than anything else they do on campus,” Dean said.

Because this is a new program, the Sustainability Office is testing the waters before expanding the program.

Dean said, “The idea was for a soft roll out on campus this year.”

Currently, the Sustainability Office is studying the effectiveness of different methods of distributing information to students.  Proposed methods of raising awareness, such as stickers and signs, have been distributed in some buildings.  Those methods were not used in comparable buildings. 

For example, one awareness method was used in Metcalf but not in the other two tri-towers.  By comparing the energy consumption between the treated and control, the Office of Sustainability will draw conclusions about the effectiveness of different methods. 

“We are going to analyze the different awareness methods across campus, see which were the most effective,” Dean said. 

The results of these analyses will be used to determine which methods would be best to apply across campus.

“We didn’t want to spend a lot of money on an awareness tool that is not effective,” Dean said.

The Sustainability Office has high hopes for Change Your State.

“The idea behind that is an awareness campaign: an awareness campaign that will in the first year reduce electricity consumption five percent on campus which would save one million dollars,” Dean said.

Although general conservation is encouraged, Dean identified some specific areas where the University could increase its efficiency.

“Fume hoods cost about six thousand dollars a year to operate, each one.  And, we have hundreds on campus,” Dean said.

Fume hoods account for 25-40% of N.C. State’s electricity use.  Dean explained that the large range of this estimate stems from technical limitations. 

“We don’t have the proper meters to get a better grasp,” Dean said.

Gary Clemmons, a junior in aerospace engineering, said he had not heard of the Change Your State program, but he supports electricity conservation in general.

“Electricity conservation is in everyone’s interest.  The less power we use the better for everyone,” Clemmons said.

Sheryl Ray, a junior in textiles technology, also said she supports conserving electricity.

“We should be doing more of it,” Ray said.

Ray said she had also noticed some of the awareness material posted by the University.

“On the buses they have conserve energy signs about things you can do, unplugging things,” Ray said.

From all of the information available to students, Dean hopes that students will find the core message.

“Small things lead to a big impact,” Dean said.  “You can have a positive impact on your University with a little effort.”