The Sophian

Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Opinions

Massachusetts in a normal winter is a frigid, unforgiving place, better fit for stoic New Englanders than temporarily trapped college students. While many of Smith's sun-soaked students may never fully adapt to the cold, the maintenance crews, bless them, put up a brave fight against the snow, slush and ice to make the campus somewhat more forgiving than nature's intent. The hazards of most snowstorms quickly disappear, the paths and streets of the college plowed, snow-blown and sanded down into submission. But there is one curious gap in our fight against the cold: contrary to Smith's professed concern for energy efficiency and sustainability, many of our buildings let winter's chill in, driving up energy costs.

Perhaps the greatest problem in this area is the windows. The ones in my room close so poorly that we can shake the frames, and it's obvious from where the drafts come. The heater runs directly beneath the windows, meaning much of the heat must rise and draw directly outside. I'm not well versed in architecture or physics, but I highly suspect that this is not the best way to heat a building.

For all the college's self-praise for being energy-conscious, isn't it a major oversight, or at least a major hypocrisy, to have so much unnecessary heat loss? Though insulating the windows in the college's older buildings would cost money, it might eventually be compensated for, at least in part, by savings in heating costs; if not, it could at least give us all the opportunity to play with foam tapes and caulking guns in the name of the environment, though the maintenance people would probably prefer to do it themselves.

The front doors of many buildings must also be a major loss of heat. In many of the main buildings like the Campus Center, Neilson and Seelye, there are double sets of doors protecting the interior from blasts of frozen air. Yet dorms and many of the smaller office buildings don't have this, requiring more heat to compensate for the cold air constantly let in. In my own house, opening the door very often can make most of the first floor cold. Unfortunately, this requires much more drastic renovation than adding some caulking around a window frame. Yet all buildings eventually get remodeled, so it could be a feasible long-term change towards greater efficiency.

Lastly, though the grounds crews do an excellent job of sanding Smith's walkways, this means that we all track a lot of grit into the buildings. Since so many floors are carpeted, this means someone has to vacuum it all up. More and better mats in front of entrances would trap a greater amount of the dirt and slush before it got inside, keeping floors cleaner and requiring less vacuuming, saving on labor and energy costs. Vacuuming may not take as much energy as using other appliances, but that shouldn't absolve it from improved efficiency.

The college doesn't have a strong track record in common-sense sustainability - we compost table scraps, for goodness' sake; in perspective, less vacuuming is downright sensible. However the current trend for energy-conscious buildings pans out, we should hope that some day, Smithies may have windows that properly shut, even in the middle of winter.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools