A Plan of Action to Green Buildings on Campus

In order to attain its goal of net zero emissions by the year 2030, the University must seize every opportunity to reduce energy consumption and divest in its usage of fossil fuels. The goal of this paper is to recommend financially viable technologies that would help reduce campus energy consumption, all of which could be implemented by 2030. Four innovative energy saving technologies are outlined below: cellular window shades, green roofs, second skins, and insulating paints. Our team initially created a list of energy saving technologies, researching each to identify which four would best provide for energy efficiency on the Campus of UMass Amherst. Our calculations show that green roofs offer the highest energy saving potential per year with 1,876,810 kWh saved, second skins were shown to be the next most promising investment, followed by cellular shades. Our considerations revolved around cost and time, particularly having to do with installation, maintenance and payback period. Considering that very little data exists on the best practices and energy saving potential of insulating paint, it is recommended that UMass issue an independent study of this technology on campus. This could be an opportune project for a future iCons group to investigate and provide valuable data to the University in helping assess the potential for insulating paint at UMass. Ultimately, we found that three of the technologies within this study show considerable promise in their ability to reduce campus emissions from fossil fuel usage, those technologies being cellular shades, green roofs and second skins. We recommend that the University consider these technologies as a means of providing for energy efficiency on campus in pursuit of its goal for net-zero emissions by 2030.