With the crazy heat yesterday, UVA was asking its employees to voluntarily conserve energy at their desks, by "turning off non-essential lights and equipment." As one commenter pointed out, that is really something that should be happening every day, in every office. Somehow, I think, our mindsets change when we leave our own abodes—where we personally pay the power bills—and enter our workplaces, where the decision to turn something off can often seem like somebody else’s job.
I’m not sure what, if anything, I could do to conserve here at the C-VILLE office. I already shut down my computer every night and I try to turn lights off when I know it won’t bother anyone. But our office, like most, is full of humming, heat-generating computers AND cooled to the point where no one ever has to feel uncomfortable for even a minute. (It used to be so air-conditioned that we couldn’t wear summer clothes in summer. That was crazy. It’s more reasonable now.) So the big decisions are, indeed, out of my hands.
I guess one thing I could is complain to our very close neighbor, Urban Outfitters, which runs the A/C while leaving its front doors wide open. Boooo.
Can you feel that hip, chilly wind?
What’s anyone else doing to conserve energy in the heat? Got any good workplace tips?
