Resource Reduction Project

In Fall 2017, a two-year term position was created within the Sustainability Office to focus on reducing paper and plug load energy consumption at Red River College Polytechnic. The Resource Reduction Specialist role was created to tackle these issues for several reasons:

It’s Strategic

Reducing paper and plug-load energy consumption fits with the College’s Strategic Plan theme “Foster Sustainable Growth” by tackling all three “P”s of sustainability:

People: engaging staff in determining and implementing solutions
Planet: decreasing our collective environmental footprint
Profit: saving money for the College

It’s Responsive

Staff ranked paper use and energy consumption as the most important sustainability issues on campus in a 2017 survey: 71% of staff surveyed said that reducing energy consumption was extremely important or very important; and 65% of staff surveyed said that reducing paper use in offices and classrooms was extremely important or very important.

It’s Timely

Xerox Canada is currently working with the College’s Print Optimization Working Group (POWG) to develop strategies to optimize our fleet print environment and to reduce paper consumption. This is part of a 67 month contract with Xerox which began July 2016.

As the College’s new buildings become more and more energy efficient, plug-load energy reduction will have a larger impact on overall energy use. While it’s estimated that plug load energy accounts for 15% of our energy use at the Notre Dame Campus, we’re anticipating that this number will jump as high as 40% for the Innovation Centre.

Find out how we’re making changes college-wide in: