The correlation between research grants and energy consumption
Recently a study was done to show that the amount of research grant money awarded to RPI corresponds to the amount of energy we use on campus. The idea came about when the research labs were identified as energy hubs on campus, and proves that this is an area where RPI could make significant changes. Often when RPI gets research grants, the money goes towards a machine that has to run for months at a time. However, the money does not pay the additions to the utility bill, and of course it doesn’t pay for the impact this has on the environment, so it is up to Utilities Management to provide tips on how to minimize their energy usage.