Laundry Efficiency Pilot Initiative

Laundry Efficiency Pilot Initiative Stanford University Green Campus Program

LAUNDRY EFFICIENCY PILOT PROFILE •  WHAT: Education and outreach to campus laundry facility users on efficient laundry practices. •  WHY: Inform/educate campus residents; Realize energy/ water savings; Convince Stanford Housing to actively support these practices in the residence halls. •  WHO: SGCP; Stanford Housing •  WHEN: Fall Quarter 2009 •  WHERE: Studios Apartments

SOWING THE SEED FOR THIS PILOT •  Suggestion of departing Sustainability Manager (Nick Kaestner) •  Laundry facility user study (2007) –  Graduate student research project –  Survey of 124 individuals across 6 undergraduate residences –  3 month data collection in houses with low to high washing practices (based on # monthly loads/resident) –  Key findings: •  Majority (67%) reported sorting clothes for warm/hot water cycles •  28% did so out of habit; 49% did so on account of color bleeding •  85% couldn’t tell a real difference between hot and cold cycles •  52% would consider line/rack drying •  Overall conclusion: Affecting laundry use patterns could take relatively little education and awareness building

PROJECT PLANNING •  Project Scoping Meetings: –  Stanford Housing –  WEB: The washer/dryer rental company –  Green Living Coordinators •  Meeting Outcomes: –  Housing can be a key project champion. Housing staff have access to energy use data, they can influence the laundry equipment vendor, and are open to expanding pilot efforts. –  WEB agreed to semi-adhesive (static) stickers –  Identified Studios Graduate Complex as attractive target for pilot

PILOT LAUNCH •  Placing static stickers atop washers •  Informational tabling •  Resident laundry attitudes & usage survey

RESIDENT SURVEY RESULTS •  90 Studios residents responded •  80% of respondents noticed the static stickers •  87% reported sorting clothes for warm/hot water washes •  45% reported switching to cold water washing •  42% reported a preference to line/rack dry clothes

PILOT EXPANSION •  As a result of resident survey, the team purchased 10 drying racks for Studios residents to check-out •  Rack usage/ frequency tracking to occur in winter quarter

PILOT IMPACTS/METRICS •  Annualized, based on November 2009 usage data and results of resident attitude & usage survey: * Assumes 20% Studios residents switch to cold water only wash cycles 1/week.

LESSONS LEARNED •  Recruit project volunteers for broader education/outreach •  Include samples of cold water detergent as incentive and attention grabber •  Data/metering challenges: Laundry facilities not all metered separately from living areas (so natural gas reading can include heating, showers and washers.) •  More intentional planning on an integrated (washing and drying) approach •  Remain vigilant for potential roadblocks: Approval of equipment vendor; Housing/ Res Life policies (e.g.: appropriate use of drying racks)

PROJECT RECOGNITION Katherine Heflin and the 2009 Stanford Green Campus Team Email: greencampus@lists.stanford.edu

Laundry Efficiency Pilot Initiative

by Alliance To Save Energy on Feb 12, 2010

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Laundry Efficiency Pilot Initiative — Presentation Transcript