Eco-Friendly Amenities
Rider’s Facilities Management division provides infrastructure necessary to make Rider run efficiently. Every building on campus is dependent upon how Rider chooses to use and maintain it. To make Rider a more sustainable institution, many initiatives have been implemented that save money, protect the environment, and enhance the sense of community that supports us all – students, faculty and staff.
Energy Star Appliances: Any new appliance purchased by Rider University is Energy Star certified. Energy Star is a government run certification program that means that the appliance simultaneously uses less energy while running more efficiently. One of the biggest impacts that Energy Star has had on Rider’s campus is with the new washer and dryer units installed. Washers now use 4 gallons of water for each cycle as compared to the 35 gallons that the old washers required.
Elkay Water Fountains: Students are able to receive free, cool, filtered water eliminating the need for plastic water bottles, which carry a larger carbon footprint. The Elkay brand combination water fountain/bottle fill stations are built into the wall and service people carrying refillable bottles as well as those that aren’t. The stations reduce the amount of water bottles being purchased by students and the university, and they also reduce the cost of transporting the bottles to Rider. Elkay stations also keep a count of how many plastic bottles have been saved by the use of reusable bottles instead of plastic. In December 2012, these stations had avoided the use of 163,000 water bottles. That’s 3.5 tons of carbon emissions avoided.
Energy Meters: There are energy meters installed in all of the buildings on the Lawrenceville campus. Energy meters provide a measure of energy being consumed by each building during the day, everyday. The meters help to show which buildings are in need of improvement in order to be more environmentally friendly as well as demonstrate to students and staff the impact they have on the energy consumed throughout buildings on campus.
Biofuel: All Rider University groundskeeping vehicles use biodiesel, a type of fuel whose energy is derived from plants, not petroleum. Sources of biodiesel include animal fats, vegetable oils, soy, rapeseed, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, and corn. This process reduces the demand and cost of petroleum on campus and reduces our carbon and sulfur emissions.
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