How to Conserve Energy at the University of South Florida Saint Petersburg

Research Conducted by: The Green Machine

Hailey McAuley Suzanna Hoblit Luke Pallone

Jordan Rubin Manny Tran

Table of Contents
Title Page Page 1 Executive SummaryPage 3 Universitys Stance on Sustainability Page 4 Cost of Implementation ... Pages 5-6 History of Solar Power .... Page 6 Examples of Solar Powered Savings ... Page 7 Benefits of Clean Energy ..... Page 8-9 The Shortsightedness of America .... Page 9 Why Solar Energy is Green Energy Page 10 Conclusion .. Page 11 Glossary of Terms ... Page 12 Works Cited Pages 13-14 Annotated Bibliography .. Pages 15-16

Executive Summary:
In our white paper, we talk about a few different things. One of the major things that we discuss is how the University of South Florida Saint Petersburg could go save energy and go green. By putting solar panels on the roof of the library, it would make the building more energy efficient as well as cost efficient. We have done our research and you will see our findings in the paragraphs below. Another thing that we did research on was how important it is to conserve the energy that we have. Energy will not last forever, and more and more people are coming to the realization of how solar paneling is better for the environment and less costly when it comes to peoples electric bill. We have put in a lot of research and we hope our findings are beneficial to you.

The University of South Florida has a strong stance on sustainability and is very concerned about the welfare of the environment it inhabits. There is an office of sustainability where students, faculty, alumni and neighborhood partners can go for support in their efforts to make the universitys campus a Green University. For the Tampa campus, there is a plan that contains all of the sustainable goals and practices of the university called the USF Tampa Campus Master Plan. It has been in existence since 1995 and is updated frequently in order to ensure that it guides the growth of the university in the right direction.

preserves undeveloped land. The university further reduced traffic outside of the campus by implementing a free off-campus shuttle system that is powered by biofuel technology. To encourage pedestrian traffic within and around the university, the University of South Florida has actively worked to construct bike lanes and sidewalks that allow access as well as safety to these transportation methods. The recycling efforts within the university are impeccable. Student assistants compiled receipt data from 1996 through 2007 to determine the campus had recycled over 48 tons of aluminum and over 9,700 tons of mixed paper. There is also a push to reduce the use of paper. With the introduction of Canvas and other campus resources available to students online, many of the transactions that used to require paper have been eliminated. There are also many resources on campus that offer green choices to students, such as paper, plastic and aluminum recycling receptacles. While the primary goal of the university is to expand, it is evident that efforts are being made to show their appreciation and consideration for the environment. For the first ten years after the University of South Florida Tampa Campus Master Plan was created, the university planted over two thousand trees and worked with neighboring businesses to ensure that choices made

Because the university has plans to grow and at the same time wants to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, it uses a concept called Smart Growth. This concept encourages the university to make the best use of its land. One of the ways that the university does this is by increasing density when developing new parts of the campus. By increasing the density of the new development it reduces sprawl, traffic, off-campus light pollution and

for the university are beneficial to the area around it as well. Much of our time has been spent on researching the cost of solar panels, and also trying to contact Duke Energy to find out the cost of electricity to run the Nelson Poynter Memorial library. We speculated there might be some legal limitations to the information they are able to provide us, and hoped that they could give us an idea as to how much electricity a building like the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library would use. This would have greatly assisted us in calculating the impact installing solar panels to the library would have on the universitys consumption of electricity, but we found the information needed using a different approach. After speaking with the research librarian, we were waiting patiently for her to get back with us with some information from the head of our accounting department at University of South Florida Saint Petersburg. We found that the library does not have its own electric meter so there is no way for us to accurately determine the usage for this building alone. Buildings built after the library have separate meters to account for those buildings individually, but the majority of our buildings that are older share one meter. The primary meter which reads electric usage for the following buildings: Bayboro Hall Center for Ocean Technology

Central Utility Plant Coquina Hall Davis Hall Haney Landing Knight Research Center Marine Science Lab Marine Science Warehouse Poynter Library Plant Operations & Receiving Terrace The total electric cost for these buildings is $1,197,779. The total square footage for these buildings combined is 457,431 gross square feet with the Nelson Poynter Library accounting for 115,040 of that total. We took the numbers provided to determine that the Nelson Poynter Library uses about $301,231 of energy per year. Although this is not an exact number of what the library uses, it is a better estimation of how much energy the library is consuming per calendar year. Research that we have come across in our recent group meetings had to deal with the costs of implementing a solar powered system for the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. There are many franchise stores that sell and install solar panels, such as Lowes and Home Depot and you can even buy them online, but there are also many companies featured online that have comparable pricing and better products
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to offer. One of those companies is Largo Solar Energy Systems. They provide many discounts and rebates that are supported by power companies that could help lower the price of installation (FL Largo Solar Contractors).

at first but would also help businesses in the long run. Duke energy gives out grants, one of which St. Petersburg College is a recipient of, and is willing to help for it to go to solar energy. Maybe we can see some huge changes not just in the library but also the whole campus, including the dorms, to start using these resources. The evolution of solar energy has brought the world many remarkable discoveries. Solar energy was first discovered in 1839 by a French scientist named Edmond Becquerel (Solar Energy Information). He introduced the world to solar energy by being the first scientist to show photovoltaic activity, which is the term used to define generating an electrical current from solar radiation. This discovery has led to solar energy becoming extremely common in the present day, used in many famous buildings as well as smaller domestic products.

(Taken from Charis, Dan) Using solar energy power will not only keep the cost of electricity lower but can benefit the community to make an impression in the city of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg College has used solar power and has saved $20,000 on the electric bill last year alone and only used 100 kilowatts of power. If St. Petersburg College and University of South Florida St. Petersburg can both use solar energy, it can create a big impact on other buildings in the area wanting to do the same. It would be an expensive job to upgrade each building Over the past century, great strides have been made in the realm of solar energy. In the 1950s AT&T labs created a six percent efficient silicon solar cell (Solar Energy Information). This means that six percent of the energy that is collected by the surface of the solar cell is converted into usable electricity. Today solar cells have become more than three times as efficient as they once were. They are able to convert twenty percent of the energy that hits the surface of the solar cell into usable energy (Solar Energy Information).

In 2007, the city of St. Petersburg along with the help of formally known Progress Energy, which is now Duke Energy, installed solar panel units in Albert Whitted Park. The park is an excellent attraction to not only St. Petersburg locals, but also people coming from out of town to admire the area. The Solar panel units are located above the restroom and can provide power to the restroom facilities. This small but great idea can be multiplied and used in our library to better the community in so many ways.

In present daytime, there is a shortage of energy in the world. The shortage of energy has been around almost as long as the universe itself. The universe has stored its energy in stars such as the sun, which now we use for solar energy, which is much, more energy efficient for the world we live in. Now that we understand how solar energy works we can take that and use it in our everyday lives. For many years, solar powering has been giving power to Industrial applications. Many schools, community halls, and clinic can benefit when going from electricity to using to the suns energy to provide them with the light and energy we need. Many people might ask how much further the world can go with this solar power idea. Well with the energy demand continually rising, it is easy to see where the world might take this extravagant invention. In the upcoming decade, civilizations will be forced to research and even possibly develop alternative energy sources. Some of the worlds greatest inventors are now trying to focus their thoughts in these various energy sources. This is a major focus in many countries. In many countries, citizens are given financial incentives for going green and installing their own solar panels. To go back to what was stated earlier, when people ask where solar energy is going? The answer is quite simple. Where do you want it to go? In the year 2013, there were many signs that people, mostly the government, saw the need for alternative energy sources and promoted research to

(Taken from Schiff, Marissa) Solar energy has grown as a lot since 2009. From 2009-2010 alone, there was a sixty-seven percent gross. On the nationally level, solar energy is now responsible for over 100,000 American jobs, and over 5,000 buildings in every state. This is just a small sample of where solar energy as well as solar paneling is going.

do so. The real answer is what you are going to do to make a difference. Will you choose to buy and support the trends of the future?

Everyone wants their energy sources to be clean and new so there will most definitely be room for improvement and room to grow when it comes to the concept of solar energy. Europe has been trying to develop new way in conserving energy. They have come across the theory that solar panels bring much more then energy into your building or home. It was stated that solar panels are not only extremely clean, but also they are said to last a minimum of twenty five years. They produce energy without pollution or emissions that could potentially lead to global warming. Solar Panels work by allowing particles of light from the sun knock away electrons from atoms. The entire solar panel is comprised of many cells that have this process going on constantly. Solar panels store the energy from the light they take in, so even if its cloudy out they still have power stored from earlier. The installation of the solar panels at the University of South Florida

Saint Petersburg library will use the suns energy to eliminate the need for conventional electricity, saving the school money and in turn, the students money. Using solar energy will be a much more common practice in the future, and University of South Florida St. Petersburg will be ahead of the game if they start now. Students are going broke paying for school. If the entire school was using solar energy, then maybe the overall cost of going to school at University of South Florida St. Petersburg would be less. This would attract more prospective students who are choosing between universities. With the university being a great school that can provide a great education as well as a lower cost of attendance it would definitely raise the value of our school. Bringing in more students from out of town and out of state not only is good for our school, but also the economy of St. Petersburg as a whole. Solar energy could put St. Petersburg at the forefront of peoples minds as a place to live. Solar panels are very much beneficial to the society and would do a great deal in saving money as well helping the students of The University of South Florida physically and academically. It can help the students academically because when the library realizes how much money that it is saving, they will keep the library open for longer hours. This will allow students to stay there longer and study or get work done that they need to. When these factors all come into play, it could potentially raise the rate of graduation

and successes coming out of the University of South Florida. Another way it is beneficial, is that one day these college graduates are going to have families of their own, or at least live on their own and they need to know what is coming to the economy. By reducing a homes use of traditional energy source, you will help keep the natural ecosystems complete, which in doing so, will reduce tax payer fund cleanups. This is very much so helpful for the future of the world. It is also physically beneficial to students. It is beneficial in the physical aspect, because you are breathing in cleaner air, which at the end of it all is very important to your health and well being.

quadrupled in the matter of one year (Bancroft Library). It may seem like this wouldnt impact us very much, but during this time our country accrued major debt in order to fulfill our energy needs. Production in many companies failed to persist and many jobs were lost due to this. If it were not for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries coming to an agreement with the rest of the world to stop the embargos and to bring the price of crude oil closer to where it was before the crisis, our nation would likely have become extremely poverty stricken. The technology in other areas has advanced so quickly, yet we still rely heavily on fossil fuels as a primary source of energy. Even though we know how devastating it would be for us if the prices of crude oil were ever to skyrocket again or the availability of fossil fuels decreases drastically, we continue to make little to no advancement in finding a new source of energy. Efforts to make advancements in this area have been thwarted by lobbyist who support and represent major players in the fossil fuel industry. Their view on the matter is generally focused on how much money they can make. It doesnt seem to bother them that if the worlds fossil fuel supply were to run dry that most, if not all, manufacturing and many more daily activities of the world would come to a screeching halt. If this were to happen, the economy of the world would definitely find itself in the most difficult position it has ever been in. Because we have become such a globalized and

It is a cultural norm in the United States to have a very shortsighted vision. Not many Americans think about the future and the type of problems that it will present us with if we dont take care of our environment. An example of this shortsightedness would be our reliance on fossil fuels. A point in our history when this really hit us hard was during the oil crisis of 1973. This was a time where the world prices of crude oil

interconnected planet, all of our economies have become reliant on one another. It would be difficult to recover if no one was able to manufacture anything. Its a very concerning issue that hardly anyone is worried about the future. What we do today only matters if we can do the same tomorrow or maybe even one-hundred years from now. Sustainability is relatively a new concept in America. We are finally starting to see the error of our ways and making efforts to ensure that our planet will be here for millennia to come. This project is a great chance for us to start making a turn in the right direction in terms of sustainability. By starting with green energy at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, an example will be made and hopefully the benefits will be realized by all parties involved. The problem with the implementation of a solar power system is whether or not the system is really worth the cost of installing it. Throughout our research, we have found solar power to be a very viable and cost effective strategy to creating a better campus environment. The reason solar power is so efficient and sustainable is because it is a highly renewable source of energy. The sun has been around for billions of years and will continue to be here for billions of years. By converting something that is radiated on a daily basis into energy, the supply will always be able to keep up with the demand. Not only is the supply going to be sustainable, but the amount of energy

retained is sustainable as well. The amount of energy retention a solar cell can obtain has plenty of room for growth because it currently is only twenty percent. The closer we are able to move to one-hundred percent retention, the better off we will be. By increasing the amount of retention a solar cell can obtain, the supply of energy is further increased. Our demand for energy will likely never decrease, so any way that we can increase the supply is a good thing. A major reason that solar energy is considered green energy is because it creates little waste while creating energy at the same time. The current method of creating electricity for everyone to use creates waste in the form of pollution. With solar energy, the only input required is a natural daily occurrence and to obtain the output, the suns radiation is converted into energy through a method that only wastes the radiation that hits the surface of the solar cell. Even though the solar cell is wasting a majority of the solar radiation it takes in, it is not creating pollution while doing so. Solar radiation is an abundant resource as well. Coal and other resources we use to create electricity are not nearly as abundant as solar radiation. As stated previously, solar radiation is created daily. Coal is a resource that takes a long time to be created. While the demand for resources such as coal continues to climb, the amount of these resources that our planet possesses only grows at a very slow rate.

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Our natural resources are what set us apart from the other planets in our solar system. Without them, Earth would be a place of desolation and inhabitable. This is the reason why going green is such a big trend in recent years. The perception that our planet is invincible is finally subsiding. The way that things are changing so rapidly really has scared individuals still using this archaic logic. If we want to slow the rate our planet is being deteriorated, we have to make big changes. We have spent too much time worrying about the present and not worrying enough about the future. While this change we propose is small, in the end it could potentially make a big difference overall. We hope we will set a precedent for other universities to follow and, maybe someday, the entire world to follow. Once our idea becomes a standard is when it will make a big impact. At the rate we consume our natural resources it is only a matter of time before the supply will run out. The gifts that we have been given from our planet are irreplaceable. It is the time that we start to think about giving back. The only way we can give back is to make better decisions and come up with better technology that doesnt consume as much. While solar energy isnt the only technology that can fit into this role, we feel that it is the best current alternative that is available. While the

technology is far beyond its infancy, there is plenty of room for growth and advancement in the technology. Because of this, cost is steadily decreasing to implement a solar powered system on structures as is shown in our research. New technology tends to cost much more than technology that have been around for a while. We felt that cost would be a key factor in determining whether or not the idea would be a good idea for the university. Funds are limited with the university, so a change that costs less would be more attractive and more practical to implement. In conclusion to all that you have read, we feel that solar energy is very important to the upcoming of society and the well being of nature. When going green, you have to be able to put one hundred and ten percent into your actions in order for it to become a reality. We very much agree that solar paneling the Nelson Poynter Library would be the next step when trying to go green at the University of South Florida Saint Petersburg. After reading all of our information and maybe even looking into some of our research, we hope that you can see the benefits like we have. It was an eye opening experience and something that will most definitely play a role in the upcoming future of the world.

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Glossary of Terms
Archaic old fashioned Desolation emptiness Green energy energy that is good for the environment and creates little waste Photovoltaic Activity generation of electrical current from solar radiation Shortsighted lacking the ability to see into the future Solar Cell the surface that absorbs solar radiation on a solar panel Sustainability the degree to which a process can be maintained

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Works Cited
Bencroft Library. 1973-1874 Oil Crisis. Fiscal Politics & Policy from the 1970s to the Present. The Regents of the University of California, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Chandler, Nathan. "How Does Solar Power Help the Environment?" HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. "Chelmsford Library: Solar Panels." Chelmsford Library: Solar Panels. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Chiras, Dan. Cost of Solar Energy Plummets. Mother Earth News. Ogden Publications, Inc., 1 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Dhar, Michael. "How Do Solar Panels Work?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. Ellis, Jessica, and Bronwyn Harris. WiseGeek. Conjecture, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. "Homepage." HOME. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "How Solar Energy Impacts the Economy." Solar Energy World. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014. "Largo, FL Solar Contractors | Solar Contractors 33771 | Green Planet Solar Systems." Largo, FL Solar Contractors | Solar Contractors 33771 | Green Planet Solar Systems. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "New Solar Cell Is More Efficient, Less Costly." Renewable Energy World. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

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Schiff, Marissa. Why the U.S. Should Rely More Heavily Upon Solar Energy. University of Michigan. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. "Solar Energy." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. "Solar Energy Facts." Sol Outdoor Lighting. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. "Solar Energy Information." Solar Energy Science Project Topics: What Is Solar Energy? N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

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Annotated Bibliography The approach we are leaning toward is to put solar panels on the roof of the USF library to circulate natural energy from those solar panels to power our lights, televisions, and computers. We have used the following sites to research how cost effective and energy efficient the installation of the solar panels would be, also how beneficial it would be to USFSP students, as well as the St. Petersburg community. We are in the process of contacting Duke Energy to get some information on how much the community spends on electricity to run the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. 1) Bencroft Library. 1973-1874 Oil Crisis. Fiscal Politics & Policy from the 1970s to the Present. The Regents of the University of California, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014 This will be used to persuade the reader that there is a need for change in the realm of green energy. 2) Chandler, Nathan. "How Does Solar Power Help the Environment?" HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. This is mainly a site that holds information about how solar energy and clean energy help the environment. It also lists potential drawbacks, but that is useful to know when others doubt solar energy. We will use this site to show that the good effects outweigh the bad when measuring the effectiveness and costliness of solar energy. 3) "Chelmsford Library: Solar Panels." Chelmsford Library: Solar Panels. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. This is a great site to use to show that other libraries are "going solar" as well. This site offers much information about how the library is used with solar panels as a teaching tool, to show the end result of how much energy can be produced by solar panels. We will use this site to show in comparison what we could do with the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. 4) "Homepage." HOME. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. This site shows us how much just one solar panel costs with no labor or delivery fee added in. This will help us determine how much money the library could potentially spend in trying to go green and make the building more energy efficient. 5) "Largo, FL Solar Contractors | Solar Contractors 33771 | Green Planet Solar Systems." Largo, FL Solar Contractors | Solar Contractors 33771 | Green Planet Solar Systems. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. This site was useful in finding out how much it would cost to install solar panels, as well as how much the labor and delivery would be. On this site they have their hours and phone number that we can contact to get an estimate on how much it would cost. Also

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they have specials going on and they take all kinds of payments. This site also shows some of the benefits of having solar power. 6) "New Solar Cell Is More Efficient, Less Costly." Renewable Energy World. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. This article talks about how cost efficient solar power is and talks about a new invention that came out in April of 2013. This article can help us with out white paper project, because it can show us and others how much solar powering has evolved since its initial discovery. 7) "Solar Energy." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. National geographic is a great site. There is so much information on there, and it is a pretty reliable source. In this specific article it talk about how the sun is a major part in solar powering. It also explains how where you place solar panels matter, and how it is very beneficial and useful to many people. 8) "Solar Energy Facts." Sol Outdoor Lighting. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. This website is different than the rest. Instead of reading an article about how it works and so on, this website gave a straight list of facts that would be very helpful in writing our white paper. Facts are always a good tool to use when writing a white paper, rather than just someones opinion 9) "Solar Energy Information." Solar Energy Science Project Topics: What Is Solar Energy? N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. This is a very basic site where we can find the history and future of solar energy. This will help us by not just showing how far the world has come with solar energy, but where it is going and what the future holds for us when it comes to preserving engery and also saving money.

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