BOONE, N.C. — The UNC system has taken numerous strides toward addressing a state mandate to reduce energy consumption 30 percent by 2015, but greater cultural change is needed, university officials said during presentations at the Appalachian Energy Summita> held July 9-11 at Appalachian State University.

Transcript

Dr. Jamie Russell: I was excited to attend. I was actually asked by Jeff Ramsdell, one of the organizers, to be one of the program leaders for building efficiency. I was honored to be asked to do that and am excited to be here. Looking at some of the speakers, especially the Rear Admiral, have shown for all operations how much energy intensity there is. The Navy, of course, has mission critical items—they have to have their power. A university, in some sense, is not as mission critical, but we are educating the future. So, we're mission critical and we have to have energy. We use a lot of it, so the big question is what can we do to reduce and how can we do that effectively in a tough economic climate while being environmentally responsible while we do it. I'm really hoping to get some ideas from other campuses, from other people who have been going down the path, and I look forward to working with them to develop some initiatives that can be ongoing.

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