La Salle is making changes around campus this winter. “We are attempting to implement more earth friendly solutions to serve as an example to students,” says Matt Winningham, the Vice President of Finance & Operations at La Salle. “By La Salle making these changes, it shows that we all can make a difference in conservation efforts.”

La Salle has taken part in the environmentally friendly trend that so many other schools and businesses have joined in on. “It is constantly a struggle to balance between environmentally friendly and cost efficient,” said Winningham. “But we’re doing our best.”

La Salle’s efforts have started to lower consumption of energy through gas and electricity. In January 2010, La Salle partnered with Future Source Capitol to put solar panels on the roof of La Salle’s academic wing. Since the installation, 10% of La Salle’s energy consumption has come from the solar panels (equalling about 458,000 KWH of power). Those numbers translate into roughly $20,000 of savings for La Salle.

On January 1st, La Salle will officially own the solar panels, meaning La Salle will no longer pay a 3rd party for the consumption of solar energy. It is estimated that owning the panels will provide roughly $7,000 in savings a year for La Salle, while still producing 9-10% of La Salle’s overall energy.

Eventually, La Salle would like to spread solar panel implementation to the gym and academic wings, to further increase energy production.

In the future, La Salle plans to install LED lights in both the parking lot and cafeteria. The construction on this is expected to be finished this winter. The energy these lights will be using will amount to roughly 4.5% of La Salle’s total energy usage. La Salle then hopes to expand to LED lighting in the academic building, and even to install occupancy and light sensors to increase their lighting efficiency.

La Salle also eventually hopes to improve the HVAC systems in the building, replace the gym and academic hallway roofs to support solar panels, and expanding on recycling efforts within the building. In fact, Winningham hopes the recycling effort will be student led. “The school could work on accessibility to the resources,” said Winningham. “But the real awareness would come from the students and staff. We need to get the students behind this effort because ultimately the success will be dependent on student behavior.”

While La Salle is not obligated to recycle, they still make it a priority to do so. However, it is a struggle for the custodians to recycle, as a bag full of recycling has to be thrown away if multiple pieces of garbage are found inside.

When asked why La Salle prioritizes green efforts, Winningham found La Salle’s End Policies, which are declared by the Board of Trustees, and read, “La Salle Prep demonstrates a healthy respect and honor for God’s creation.” The environmentally friendly efforts La Salle is working on are not only important because of the growing popularity in “being green”, but rather because of the true fundamental Lasallian values themselves.

Winningham wants to remind students to keep an eye out for the subtle changes throughout the halls to both the lighting and recycling efforts, and remember that even as a student, you can make a positive impact on the environment.

Photo Courtesy of: Creative Commons