DATE: 10/23/07

CONTACT: Pam Bryant, (803) 553-7705; bryant@clemson.edu

Muriel Carter, (803) 270-8706; mcarter@aikenco-op.org

Camp Long goes green

AIKEN – “Learn. Serve. Conserve.” is the theme of Energy Work Day at the W.W. Long Leadership Center (Camp Long) today, where teams representing Clemson University, Aiken Electric Cooperative and the SC Energy Office are all charged up to take steps to make the site more energy efficient. The first of many energy-saving tasks the teams will accomplish today is installing 625 energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) around the site.

The Energy Work Day at Camp Long was initiated by a comprehensive energy audit conducted from March through October 2007 by the SC Energy Office (SCEO), SC Budget and Control Board. The audit assessed over 41-metered buildings on campus, indicating a number of measures to improve energy efficiency. As part of the recommended upgrades, SCEO determined that replacing 625 incandescent bulbs with CFLs could save the site as much as $7,400 per year based on an eight hour a day usage. 

Learning of the audit findings, Aiken Electric Cooperative, the utility provider for the site, agreed to invest in the purchase the CFLs and is providing staff to help install the bulbs today. Also, teams are posting signs in all facilities on site with energy-saving reminders for staff and program participants who work and live there year-round.

Aiken Electric Cooperative CEO Gary Stooksbury said the company’s commitment to community is, in large part, the reason for their investment. “We’re committed to helping our members, our community and our environment. This initiative goes hand-in-hand with the statewide cooperative investment of $10 million per year towards renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.”

Additionally, an Aiken Electric Cooperative line crew will be installing six transformer pads at identified outdoor HVAC units to improve efficiency. The transformer pads will raise the units above ground to minimize the sand and dirt that collects at the base.

Run by Clemson University's Youth Learning Institute (YLI), Camp Long is a residential facility that serves at-risk youth through partnership programs with the SC Department of Juvenile Justice, the SC National Guard and Aiken County Public Schools.

Programs at Camp Long foster education through "hands-on," nature-based, experiential learning techniques.

“We are incredibly grateful for all the energy that’s pouring into Camp Long today,” said Jorge Calzadilla, YLI executive director. “When the young people here see all the partners and volunteers on the site today, it not only demonstrates the importance of being good stewards of our energy resources, but it let’s them know people care about them too.”

Aiken Electric, a Touchstone Energy® Cooperative, is a member-owned, non-profit electric utility serving approximately 43,000 consumers in Aiken, Barnwell, Calhoun, Edgefield, Greenwood, Lexington, McCormick, Orangeburg and Saluda counties. Touchstone Energy is an alliance of local, consumer-owned electric utilities around the country committed to providing superior customer service at affordable rates to all customers, large and small.

The energy audit, lead by Jean-Paul Gouffray with the Energy Office, also guided Aiken Electric in re-mapping the facility security lighting for additional monthly savings. “If Camp Long can eventually implement the SCEO’s recommendations, they could reduce energy consumption by over 11% with a projected cost savings of over $19,000 per year,” adds Gouffray.

Other energy-saving recommendations Camp Long will pursue include:

• caulking and installation of weather-stripping around windows and doors;
• chinking for all log cabins on the site -- a process that plugs air leakage;
• installation of a solar water heating systems at the dining hall; and
• restoration of a grist mill on the site to generate hydro-electricity.
  

Camp Long officials say the Energy Work Day is a first step in an ongoing effort to respond to audit recommendations from the SCEO.

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