A Greener Elmhurst College?

Despite being a registered arboretum and containing more than 3,000 trees and shrubs of 650 different species, the Elmhurst College campus has not, until recently, taken any major steps into becoming a "green" campus. Despite half-hearted efforts of various groups around campus, the cafeteria still provides only Styrofoam cups for use at the soda fountain, and shockingly few students choose to use reusable plates and silverware. Even recycling of paper and plastic bottles is an issue.

However, the College administration has recently stepped up to the plate in a large way. With the release of the new campus "master plan," the College has vowed to transform the campus from a campus green only in color to a sustainable campus. The first incarnation of the master plan is the construction of West Hall, a new residence hall that will contain solar panels in the roof, used to heat hot water in the building. Solar panels will reduce the cost of heating water by about 40 to 50 percent.

Solar panels, otherwise known as flat-plate solar-thermal collectors have an absorber plate to which fluid circulation tubes are attached. The absorber is coated with a dark selective surface to assure the conversion of the sun’s radiation into heat, and the fluid circulating through the tubes carries the heat away to where it can be used or stored. Heated fluid (water, in this case) is pumped to a heat exchanger, where it gives off its heat, and is then circulated back to the panel to be reheated.

Advantages to solar panels are many. Other than the obvious installation cost, solar heat costs nothing and will reduce energy bills involved with the heating of water. Using energy from the sun is very environmentally friendly, as they do not produce any of the byproducts of traditional energy. This is not to say, however, that there are no drawbacks. Initial cost of installing solar panels is high. Also, it is not a full-proof method for heating a large residence hall with no backup energy sources, as a few cloudy weeks could leave 170 students with no hot water!

Despite drawbacks, however, the pros of installing solar panels in West Hall far outweigh the cons. While traditional energy methods will still have to be used, the new solar panels will reduce heating costs by 30-40%--and decrease the College's negative footprint on the atmosphere. While the solar panels are a great step in making the College "green," it is ultimately the responsibility of all members of the campus community to take charge of their actions and push the administration to further improve the campus.

Sources:

www.elmhurst.edu

http://solar-panels.kulvis.com/tag/solar-panels/