Friday afternoon, Milligan President Bill Greer announced the launch of a new energy savings initiative that will reduce the campus’ energy consumption more than 20 percent. He made the announcement in the Gregory Center before an audience of incoming students and their parents during Milligan’s Connections weekend.

 

The initiative will involve replacing all water fixtures on campus with more energy efficient fixtures to reduce water use by more than 6 million gallons per year, as well as replacing more than half of campus HVAC equipment and renovating the ceiling and lighting in the library.

 

A new monitoring system will also be installed to allow the physical plant to monitor energy usage, receiving alerts if any issues occur. The energy usage data will be publicly available on monitors on campus. The changes will take about a year to complete.

 

Milligan began consulting with Energy Systems Group about two years ago to form the energy savings plan, said Russ Nelson, business development manager for ESG.

 

Greer said ESG conducted a “comprehensive survey of water, gas, electric, every building, every system.”

 

The initiative will cost about $3.9 million. Funding for the project comes from incentives from the Tennessee Valley Authority and grant money. The remainder of the cost will be financed and paid for with the money saved on utility expenses.

 

Milligan expects to save over $250,000 on utilities and over $100,000 on maintenance costs each year. With the savings, the physical plant budget will reduce by 6.8 percent in the 2016-17 academic year. The initiative will also reduce Milligan’s carbon dioxide emissions by 593 metric tons per year.

 

“We’re delighted to be able to make that investment in our campus, one that I think helps demonstrate that we’re committed to being good stewards of God’s creation,” Greer said.

 

Energy Savings Initiative Announced

The ceiling and lighting in the library will be replaced as a part of the initiative.

 

Photo by Caleb Perhne