Cornish Commons is a LEED Gold facility. That means a great deal of attention has been paid to the sustainability features of the building. Some of those features include high efficiency light bulbs, low-flow showers and toilets, occupancy sensors for heating/cooling, and light timers – just to name a few.
However, you can still help reduce our energy use and footprint by following some of the tips below.
Energy Tips
- Turn off lights in all rooms when they are unoccupied, and keep the lights off when there is sufficient daylight
- Turn off computers, televisions, and all other electronics when not in use. Connect them to a power strip in order to turn the off all at once and limit the standby power draw
- Set computers to sleep when not in use for five minutes
- Remove lint from clothes dryer before/after each use
- If possible, monitor energy use to be aware of potential problem areas within your home
- If you have a programmable thermostat, update the set points with your typical daily schedule so that the heating or air conditioning runs less when you are away.
- If you replace light bulbs, choose LED bulbs. LED bulbs are now inexpensive, last 30x longer and use 10% of the energy of incandescent bulbs.
Water Tips
- Immediately alert the property manager of leaks, running toilets, or any other plumbing issues
- Take shorter showers (5 minutes)
- Turn off water when shaving and brushing teeth
- Run only full loads of laundry and dishes, unless there is a setting for small loads
Reducing Waste
- Recycle – make it easy to sort recyclable materials with separate bins for recyclable items
- Choose reusable cups, plates, bowls, utensils, bags and water bottles
- Consider purchasing local, refurbished, and or recycled furniture
- Reduce paper consumption with double-sided printing, or not printing at all
- Request a composing bin from Housing & Residence Life if interested
Health Air
- Purchase live plants to enhance indoor air quality and improve productivity levels
- Avoid blocking air vents to ensure good air circulation
- Dispose of garbage and recycling regularly
- Choose green cleaning products and avoid artificial fragrances
Transportation Tips
- Walk and bike to reduce vehicle miles traveled and increase personal fitness – remember to wear a helmet when biking!
- Use public transportation for daily commutes, as available
- Carpool and rideshare with others
Commons Sustainability.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document – 172.8 KB
