Green Committee Newsletter

Since April, the American Center for Physics has replaced more than 3,000 light bulbs with more efficient fluorescent lamps. Energy STAR reports that lighting consumes about 35% of a commercial building's energy use (the correct answer from last month's quiz question #2).

We introduced the ACP Green e-newsletter last month, and kicked it off with tips on greening your office. This month we continue that theme with more habit-changing energy-efficiency tips that each of us can implement.

• Don't touch that dial: Heating and cooling, and ultimately, costs, can shoot up when thermostat settings are frequently adjusted. ACP building engineers advise employees to leave the thermostat alone; instead, dress in layers.

• Step up for savings: Elevator use accounts for roughly 5% of a small building's energy usage; that sounds small but it adds up. Skip the lift, take the stairs, and burn some calories in the process.

• Unplug, switch off: It is easy to adjust, plug out, or switch off electrical equipment without missing a beat. Even devices that are turned off use waste energy just by being plugged in; that's true for your cell phone charger (the answer to last month's quiz question #1). The solution? Use power strips and switch them off at night. Check out: Energy STAR's Green Tips for the Workplace.

Thanks to those of you who submitted your quiz answers last month! Send your responses to the questions below to acpgreen@acp.org. Answers will be revealed in next month's ACP Green email.

2. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an energy efficient light bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of how many cars?