Success: It’s All In the Numbers Steve Tolley Assistant Director; Grounds, Building Services, Sustainability Alex Davis Coordinator, Sustainability Office

Overview Why are numbers important? How do I get numbers? Sustainable Outdoor Signs Printing Reduction Residence Hall Energy Conservation

Why are numbers important? Before a project: – Help everyone to understand the scale – Provide a self-check for passionate sustainability professionals and students During/After a project: – Prove the value of your project over time. – Add credibility for future projects

How do I get numbers? Measurement opportunities: – Direct measures Materials savings from avoided consumption – Indirect measures Unrecognized labor savings – Hidden counters Set up a tracking system in advance! – Baseline – Progress

Foam-core Signs Babson spent over $10,000 per year on single- use foam-core outdoor directional signs

Re-Usable Signs Examples Created by: Dunbar Signs eventsigns.biz

Solid Waste: Sustainable Signs Re-useable sign metrics – Clear financial savings $25/sign vs.$0.15/paper Saved $10,000 per year vs. $6000 initial investment – 400 foam board signs avoided per year – Hidden benefits Facilities staff save time setting up Improves campus aesthetics Basic cost comparison = prove the point

Purchasing: Printing Services Worked with Purchasing to ensure that sustainability was a key part of the RFP Contract is service based vs. volume based – Vendor is now a partner in the savings – Second year-on-year savings ($20,000 savings) GroupSpring 2012 PagesSpring 2013 Pages% Difference Undergrad1,502,7491,307,591-13% Graduate425,823342,178-20% Faculty403,738389,522-4% Staff1,122,5921,119,007~0% Total3,454,9023,158,298-9%

Printing Metrics Remove old machines that only print single sided Installed multi-function devices that print double sided by default Engaged campus community to generate savings – Undergraduate dean reached out to heavy printers – campaign partnership between IT, Purchasing, and Sustainability

Historically- significant energy waste during winter break shutdown (New England winter!) Unplugged program used engagement to encourage conservation efforts: – Unplug appliances- including refrigerator – Turn off lights – Turn down heat – Windows closed Babson Unplugged

Every room was inspected to correlate personal action and savings – Heat turned down – Windows closed – Electronics unplugged – Lights off – Refrigerator unplugged Recording using technology

Babson Unplugged Perfect Unplugged Floors: – 2010: 2 – 2011: 12 – 2012: 7 New tracking tool Near perfect floor count jumped drastically in FY12 Numbers provide a corrective nudge: – Need to increase outreach in 2013 given decrease in results from prior year

Thank You & Questions Steve Tolley Assistant Director; Grounds, Building Services, Sustainability Alex Davis Coordinator, Sustainability Office