The California State University system has been in major fiscal crisis since 2003. Early on in the crisis, Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond sent an email to the entire campus community asking students, staff and faculty to remember to turn off unneeded lights and help save energy. SERC staff decided they could help the university by identifying ways to reduce campus energy costs.

Getting students involved in this effort proved to be a great way to get increased buy-in to our efforts, to mobilize an enthusiastic workforce, and to provide the students with an opportunity to learn more about energy. SERC also collaborated with the Plant Operations staff to identify cost-effective energy efficiency measures and funding resources needed to implement these measures.

In spring semester 2004, students in Environmental Resources Engineering and Environmental Science classes began conducting energy audits of campus buildings and equipment. They also developed strategies for campus outreach and education on energy efficiency topics to increase awareness and resource-conserving behavior. In summer of 2004, SERC presented a short course on energy auditing in order to create a corps of students capable of performing in-depth energy audits on and off campus.

SERC worked closely with Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), a prominent national environmental organization, to make HSU one of the first university partners in their Green Campus Program. Currently, HSU has four Green Campus interns and a thriving group of volunteers dedicated to increasing energy efficiency on campus. SERC engineer Richard Engel serves as club advisor. For more information about HSU's Green Campus program visit their website at www.humboldt.edu/~greenhsu/cms/.