In an effort to conserve energy costs, Iowa State plans to close down some campus buildings during winter break.

In 2002, the university spent over $16 million on maintaining electricity, steam for heating and chilled water for cooling.

This is the third time Iowa State has implemented its energy conservation plan.

Johnny Pickett, associate vice president and controller for business and finance, said the first time the university began looking at energy-saving solutions was during the 1980s. Now Iowa State is trying to conserve energy again due to budget cuts, she said.

“Our objective is to close down buildings that have minimal activities during the breaks,” Pickett said.

Iowa State officials have established an energy task force whose job it is to find ways for the university to conserve energy.

“We do not mandate that buildings close; we leave it up to the departments to decide if they are able to close down over breaks,” Pickett said.

Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance, said this year’s goal is to save $1.5 million through energy conservation.

“During a break we can save $10,000 a day by closing up certain buildings,” Madden said.

He said he is not sure which buildings will be closing during the winter break.

“Many buildings can’t be shut down because of greenhouses or labs with animals that need to maintain certain temperatures,” Madden said.

The energy task force usually targets buildings that serve strictly as classrooms and offices. The shutdown requires lights and computers be turned off and the heat reduced in the buildings.

There are many new steps being taken to limit the amount of energy buildings consume.

“The new buildings all have motion detectors for the lights in the bathrooms. We are working on getting them installed in all the older buildings as well,” Madden said.

Temperature zone controls are also being installed so buildings can be monitor temperatures in individual areas of a building.

Madden said employees are being encouraged to shut off lights and equipment at the end of the day.

“It is amazing how much energy can be saved by simply turning off a computer,” Madden said.