What is “green” about DENR saving energy on the job?
Saving energy shouldn’t be seen as a burden, but as a practice of using energy wisely. The simple act of turning something off when you’re finished with it means a savings to the environment as well as savings to the taxpayers. For example, a pair of 4-foot long fluorescent tubes left on overnight and on weekends can cost an extra $14 dollars a year. This calculation is based on two 38-watt tubes, left on 14 hours a week night and 48 hours per weekend, equaling 466 kWh a year (just for the tubes) and using three cents a kWh off-peak rate. Based on national estimates, for every kilowatt-hour of electricity saved (not generated), approximately 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide, 0.09 ounces of nitrogen oxide and 0.2 ounces of sulfur dioxide, are not released into the atmosphere. The 466 kWh you save from just the two florescent tubes equates to 700 lbs CO2, 5.8 lbs SO4 and 2.6 lbs NOx. Now multiply that times the number of four-tube fixtures in the average state office building. Many DENR empl
