Shutting down Baker escalators after the center closes may save the university thousands.
Ohio University would save nearly $8,900 if it turned off its escalators after-hours every day for a year in Baker University Center, according to a study conducted by the Office of Sustainability.
Now the university will put the escalators to the test.
One of the six escalators inside Baker will be shut off when the building closes each night for the next few weeks, so officials can observe the effects on the equipment that power the escalators, according to a news release.
The university’s study, conducted this summer, showed that the savings from shutting down the escalators after-hours each night from July 2013 through June 2014 would amount to much less than one percent of the more than $5 million OU has spent on electricity thus far in 2014.
The current study will take into account both energy savings and any possible effect on maintenance costs to determine how cost-effective shutting down the escalators would be, according to the release.
Senior Associate Vice President for IT and Administrative Services Joseph Lalley said the study has been running smoothly so far.
“Staff in Baker started turning off escalator No. 4 the evening of Oct. 2 when the building closes and starting it up the next morning,” Lalley said in an email. “As of (Tuesday) morning, we have encountered no problems related to the nightly shutdown.”
Because Baker has a 24/7 staff, shutting down the lights during the night is not an option, Dustin Kilgour, executive director of Baker Center and Event Services, told The Post last semester. LED bulbs and motion sensor lights are installed in Baker to minimize the use of unnecessary energy, he said.
Hana El-Khatib, a sophomore at OU whose major is undecided, said that she is glad that they’re moving toward shutting down the escalators at night, and she welcomes any cost-cutting methods the university implements.
“We pay so much money to go to school here,” El-Khatib said. “They shouldn’t waste that money on something that is useless. It’s bad for the planet, and it doesn’t benefit any of the student body to keep those escalators running at night.”
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