Current Projects

Lighting Retrofit

Low-Flush Toilet Retrofits in Stern & EV Highrises

Flushing toilets is among the most consumptive of domestic water uses. Old toilets in many parts of campus can consume four or more gallons of water with each flush. Over winter break, the back four houses of Stern Hall (Burbank, Casa Zapata, Serra, and Donner) were retrofitted with low-flush toilets that use only 1.6 gallons per flush and urinals that use only 1 gallon per flush. By the end of Spring Quarter, Blackwelder and Quillen highrises will also have been retrofitted with low-flush toilets in all the individual apartments. These projects are part of a larger effort to eventually upgrade all the toilets in Stanford residences. Dorms that already have already received the low-flush toilet retrofit include Wilbur Hall, Branner, Mirrielees, EV Lowrises, 680 Lomita, SAE, Kappa Sig, and Theta Delta Chi.

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Lighting Retrofits for Muwekma & 717 Dolores

Lighting fixtures in Muwekma and 717 Dolores (formerly Taxi) will be upgraded to more efficient models, and a system of timers and timed switches will be installed to turn lights off when they are not needed. Similar retrofits were carried out over the summer in Bob, Casa Italiana, and Xanadu.

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Installation of Premium Efficiency Motors -- Phase II

Motors are used in Student Housing to circulate water or supply and remove air from spaces. Since these motors often run around the clock all year long, increasing their efficiency becomes essential. In the past year, Student Housing has installed 48 new premium efficiency motors in Governor's Corner, Mirrielees, Cowell Cluster, Robert Moore Houses and Escondido Village. Phase II of this project will continue these installations in additional residences.

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Refrigerator Replacement in Rains Apartments

The refrigerator is the single greatest consumer of energy in most households. And the older the refrigerator, the more energy is burns. All Rains residents will soon enjoy new Energy Star refrigerators -- an Energy Star refrigerator uses about half as much energy as a 10-year old model. Because of improved insulation, more efficient compressors, and more precise temperature and defrost mechanisms, each of these replacements could save enough energy to light a house for three months!

Pilot Projects

Rains Programmable Thermostats

New programmable thermostats will be installed in 18 Rains apartments as a pilot project. Should these thermostats help to reduce electricity consumption while still well-controlling the temperature in the apartment, all Rains apartments thermostats may be replaced.

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Steam Heating System Controls in Toyon Hall

Programmable controls will be installed in Toyon Hall to control the steam heating system of the house. These new controls will better regulate the indoor temperature based on outdoor conditions.

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Ongoing

Irrigation--Water Conservation

In 1998, Student Housing began an ambitious program to centrally control all irrigation around our building. By using the Maxicom software developed by Rain Bird Irrigation operating over narrowband radio frequency, control of water used for irrigation is now done by computer. This system optimizes the amount of water applied to each plant type (grass, shrubs, plants) by each application method (sprays, rotors, bubblers and drip irrigation). The Maxicom system periodically checks in with the campus weather station and adjusts the amount of time each station runs based on daily conditions. If it is exceptionally hot, the system will apply more water than normal. If the weather is cool or raining, the system will either reduce the run time or shut off completely. We are expecting to reduce our water use for irrigation by 35% based on this new technology.

In addition to advanced irrigation controls, Student Housing is reviewing the planting types and sprinkler heads used to water each location. If certain narrow strips of lawn are seldom used by students, we will propose to convert these spaces to more drought resistant landscaping or ground cover. Our hope is to invest the resources we have for Grounds maintenance in keeping the most heavily used spaces in premium condition and returning the less visible or less frequently used spaces back to natural landscape requiring no maintenance or irrigation. This will allow us to reduce both water and labor expenses while keeping the premier locations looking their best. In new construction design reviews, we are encouraging landscape designers to specify less water-intensive plants to begin with.

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