Abstract:
The Sustainability Revolution commenced as a reaction to the environmental degradation
caused by the Industrial Revolution. The Sustainability Revolution introduced the
general public to the three pronged approach of sustainability: uniting economics, the
environment, and society. The Campus Sustainability Movement represents one of the
sub-movements within the Revolution. This Movement introduced the trend to evaluate
and audit campus environmental practices and policies, and monitor their impacts on the
environment. In 1989, the University of California at Los Angeles conducted the first
campus environmental audit in the United States. Their audit looked at various campus
practices such as water and energy consumption, waste management, and procurement
practices. This audit paved the way for several colleges and universities worldwide.
In the fall of 2006, the Duke University Marine Lab, located in Beaufort, NC, embarked
on a Green Initiative. In order to facilitate the process of the Initiative, the Marine Lab
called for an environmental audit of their current practices. Due to time constraints, this
masters project focuses solely on energy consumption at the Lab, in the form of
electricity consumption. Previous campus audits conducted at other universities were
referenced to guide the audit’s research questions. Financial records and kilowatt-hour
meter readings from 1999 through 2006 were collected as a means to identify exactly
where the Marine Lab must make adjustments. Although some of the data appears to be
flawed, it still reveals some encouraging trends at the Marine Lab, namely that energy
consumption has decreased over the past 6 years. This masters project recommends that
in order to see additional improvements, all buildings at the Marine Lab must have
meters on them. Furthermore, this masters project suggests that communication between
the Marine Lab and the Facilities Management Department in Durham be improved.
