Energy Conservation Tips

Harvard Law School strives to provide comfortable use and occupancy with responsibility to the environment. Please review below for important steps you may take to assist us in this endeavor. Should you have any questions, please contact the Facilities Management Office at (617) 495-5521 or facmgmt@law.harvard.edu.

Office Areas

• Please notify Facility Management at facmgmt@law.harvard.edu or 5-5521 when you discover area specific issues relating to lighting, temperature, and mechanical concerns
• Please keep equipment that creates a heat away from thermostats (printers, coffee pots, refrigerators, etc.). This will cause inaccurate sensing of room temperature and result in over/under heating or cooling.
• Please turn off lights when not in use.
• Please do not block air vents/grills on fan coil units or radiators. This significantly reduces the efficiency of the units.
• In the summer- shades/blinds should be closed during the cooling season (summer) to reduce the effect the sun has on the space.
• In the winter- open shades/blinds during the heating season (winter) to let the sun assist in warming the space.
• Please be cautious when using personal appliances, especially those that use high amounts of electricity..
• Please turn off office equipment when it is not needed. About 30 to 40% of office equipment is left on at night and on weekends causing wasted energy. Please utilize the Energy Star web site for sleep software Located below.
• Please report all flickering, dimming, and burnt out lamps, as they consume more energy than a properly operating bulb.
• Please utilize natural lighting when possible.
• Please be cautious not to overload a refrigerator, as they operate more efficiently when air circulation is not restricted.
• Please shut of your heating/cooling equipment when the window is open.

Common Space

• Please notify Facility Management at facmgmt@law.harvard.edu or 5-5521 when you discover building issues such as running toilets, leaky faucets and broken windows.
• Please turn off lights in unoccupied areas and at the end of the day, including classrooms, seminar rooms and conference rooms.
  NOTE: Common areas have a few light fixtures that are not controlled locally (by a switch) and will remain on at all times for safety concerns.
• Please do not prop exterior doors open, even for short periods of time.

Dormitory Rooms (spaces with individual heating/cooling units)

• Please set units to 60 degrees during the heating season (winter) when not occupied, especially during extended breaks (if you have individual controls).
• Please set units to 80 degrees during the cooling season (summer) when not occupied, especially during extended breaks (if you have individual controls).
• Please do not block air vents/grills on fan coil units or radiators. This significantly reduces the efficiency of the units.
• Please try to limit showers to 5 minute or under.

Electric Space heaters

• HLS discourages the use of space heaters as they are both dangerous and use a large amount of energy to produce “heat”. A common problem with space heaters is that they actually make your area more uncomfortable. The space heater tricks your thermostat into thinking the space is warm. The heating system will sense this and shut down on temperature. Please contact the Facilities office if you have a comfort concern or submit a request through our automated request form.