Many elevators around York College are under construction. However, signs signaling that elevators are out of order were commonplace before construction began. Photo credit: Anslem Joseph.
By Anslem Joseph
On Aug. 28, students were notified that a demand response notice was required at York College to help reduce greenhouse gas emission. As a result, many high energy consuming equipments had to be turned off.
These equipments included escalators, elevators (except elevator 8 on the North Side and the freight elevator), and 11 out of 16 air handlers. Everyone is all in for helping the environment become a better place but it’s really hard to believe York College is using too much energy. During the school year of 2017-2018, many escalators and elevators were not used because they needed to be fixed.
Isn’t York saving more energy instead of overusing it since these equipments are not being used? As recalled, usually the escalators and elevators don’t work which forces students to either walk up the escalators or use the stairs.
If you think that’s bad, it’s even worse to imagine the stress York students with disabilities have to face when going to class. Even though York College provides assistance for people with disabilities who need to travel from floor to floor, it is still unbeneficial that they can’t rely on the elevators to get them to places they need to go. So as far as turning off the escalators and elevators to save the environment, York College doesn’t need a demand response for that because they are hardly ever on in the first place.
Turning off the 11 out of the 16 air handlers was not a good idea because classrooms became too hot during the 90-degree weather the demand response notice came into play. On the other hand, for the past weeks the Academic Core building has been freezing.
It is great that there are working air conditioners in York but they run for too long. Even when the weather outside is 90 degrees, York feels like an iceberg for long periods of time. Students literally have come to school in sweaters when is still hot outside just because York is too cold.
Managing the use of air conditioners at York would help consume less energy and the environment. Nobody wants to feel too hot or too cold. On that side a demand response happening at York is very beneficial because it prevents the campus into becoming an uncomfortable environment to work in.
York students are all for saving the environment but we should all do it in a way that benefits everyone. York students should not have to experience a blackout like the one we experienced on Aug. 28. As a result, York College faculties should look into ways to save energy while not making it have a big impact on York College students as it does now.
