101 smart revenue generators

University Business, Dec, 2006

54. Aim for parking profits. Reconciliation and management of parking revenue for concerts, sporting events, and conventions can be inefficient and costly. California State University, Fullerton staff use a handheld device called PermitNow (www.t2systems.com) to issue parking permits and receipts more quickly while improving revenue and staff accountability. The system enables easier tracking of specific event sales, reduces the risk of audit problems, and eliminates the need for cumbersome preprinted stock permits. Reports outline revenue generated and note the payment method for all transactions. The detailed tracking helps reduce the possibility of revenue loss.

GREEN EFFORTS

55. Automate power controls. Tufts University (Mass.) uses EZ Save software (www.energystar.gov) to power down unused computer monitors, which should save $90,000 per year. And Tufts uses the VendingMiser from USA Technologies on its beverage vending machines, saving $17,280 per year. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte installed equipment from Venture Lighting that automatically dims the overhead lights as the ambient natural light increases, reducing energy consumption by 50 percent.

56. Get a clean start. By having its custodial staff clean early in the evening, rather than waiting until midnight, the University of Denver saved on its lighting bill. This was just a small first step toward a larger goal of working with faculty, staff, and students to raise environmental awareness and pinpoint ways to save energy. Administrators expect to reduce the annual energy bill by 10 percent to 15 percent in the first year of the program, which began in May.

57. Let the sunshine in. Arizona State University is taking advantage of the abundant Southwest sunshine by adding solar panels to a parking garage rooftop. The new technology powers all lighting in the structure and will eventually save thousands of dollars annually in maintenance and energy costs. (A bonus: The panels provide shade for parked vehicles.) Similar technology is being researched for other parking lots and structures on the Tempe campus.

58. Exercise temperature control. The University of Maine uses Honeywell's HVAC controls to remotely monitor and adjust temperatures in the durra, which reduces maintenance calls and energy consumption. By blocking outside heat using window film from V-Kool, Stanford University (Calif.) has saved $5,000 in cooling costs. When the University of Massachusetts Amherst installed low-e fabric ceiling panels from Thermal Design in its practice ice rink, the reduction in radiant heat gain cut compressor run time by 30 percent.

59. Save water. Assumption College (Mass.) installed toilet flush valves and water-saving shower heads from Conservation Services Group in 22 buildings, which should save nearly three million gallons of water per year. American University (D.C.) installed 278 high-efficiency Maytag washing machines, saving 18 gallons per load, or two million gallons per year.

60. Capture runoff for use in athletic fields irrigation. Catawba College has purchased large holding tanks that capture the runoff water from its geothermal wells (used to heat and cool buildings on campus) so that the water can be reclaimed for irrigating its 25 acres of athletics fields. The college expects to recoup the $25,000 cost of the tanks in two-and-a-half years, as the water bills it had been paying to the City of Salisbury, N.C., for irrigating the athletic fields will be reduced. The captured water is also good for the environment since it contains none of the chemicals normally found in treated city water.