I propose that NIU initiate a vital campus-and-region-wide environmental sustainability activities with objective to reduce cost while developing, promoting and implementing energy conservation and measures of resource conservation and sustainability. Leading by example and expertise, those activities, if promoted and given due priority, should result in important savings, job market growth, and external projects beneficial to all in Northern Illinois region.

The right timing is now, due to need for savings and availability of new economical technology and expertise. We should establish a campus-wide Sustainability Task Force or similar entity, including staff, professors and students, as well as local business and government members and environmentalists, in order to initiate, promote, develop and implement conservation and sustainability measures. The proposed sustainability activities should be “talk and action of the whole campus and wider community,” including academic and student affairs’ divisions in addition to administrative affairs’ physical plant regular business.

We should encourage all students, faculty and community members to participate in the sustainability and conservation activities at NIU. We could do some exemplary projects  - a critical conservation efforts that not only conserve energy and resources, but more importantly, save money and promote our institution image and opportunities towards the future job market growth.

A new campus-wide assessment related to building energy and water conservation, waste management and recycling, transportation, purchasing, research and curriculum and other related activities should be initiated. Even simple energy-saving techniques, like implementing energy-efficient lighting, enhancing insulation and reducing ventilation losses, low-flow faucets and shower heads, will be easy and exemplary projects, not to mention more advanced management and control of energy and other resource processes using “smart” sensors with microprocessor control, all integrated into computerized management systems. Now, and even more so in the future, new technologies prompted with continuous development of computerization, information- and nano-technology, are becoming more reliable and economical. Who could dare in past to predict current development of new and information technology, or that today’s hybrid $20K cars could make close to 100 mile-per-gallon efficiency. Possibilities and opportunities are often beyond our beliefs.

We should demonstrate with our curricular and research activities that “we believe in and care about” the sustainability and conservation issues by leading and not falling behind regional, state, national and world-wide activities in these critical issues and promising opportunities for our graduates. It is our interest and responsibility to embrace and lead, and to prove that environmental sustainability and conservation can pay dividends, not just for us but for others in our region and for future generations.

M. Kostic
www.kostic.niu.edu/energy

NIU, April 2003