Green efforts at Penn State have found a place to take root with the creation of the university's new departmental office for Sustainability Programs.

Erik Foley began work May 4 as the manager for the newly created Sustainability Programs office, said Paul Ruskin, custodial services coordinator for the Office of Physical Plant.

The department aims to increase the university's efficiency, particularly when it comes to energy usage ¾ a mission Foley is certain will yield financial benefits.

"There's something about economic hard times, which force you to look at that waste, where in good economic times you can ignore that stuff," Foley said.

"We have all this data, but until we've been squeezed economically, we never had the incentive to look close enough."

The electricity bill for Penn State's University Park campus is about $24 million per year, or roughly $2 million every month, Ruskin said.

Reductions in usage of electricity would free up funding that could be used for other things.

"Efficiency would translate to a leaner organization that would accomplish the same job using fewer funds," Ruskin said.

Foley cited, as a successful efficiency exercise, the recent emergency electricity reduction test.

During the test Allegheny Power requested that all Penn State workers unplug unnecessary appliances for one hour.

The power saved during that hour was equivalent to the energy usage for all of Bellefonte.

The opportunity to work with the already-active student environmental groups on campus is something Foley seemed to express great interest in.

By partnering with them, he hopes to form a program to lower energy usage at University Park.

"It's gonna be a 'No Light Switch Left Behind' program," Foley said.

Foley plans to work with students to help them realize the impact their daily activities have on energy uses and, ultimately, the environment.

Carlo Sica (senior-physical and environmental geography), president of Eco-Action, an environmentally focused student organization, expressed his support for Foley.

"He came into the job with the idea that he had a lot to learn and that Penn State is already doing a lot of great things, which is absolutely correct," Sica said.

"It seems like he's off to a great start."

One way Foley plans to implement an energy dashboard is to help people living and working in the buildings on campus become more aware of their energy usage.

By doing this, Foley said, people will become more responsible with their energy usage.

"When you give somebody feedback about their use of something, it tends to influence their behavior towards it," Foley said.

Foley was previously the director of the Renewable Energy Center at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa.

"We're delighted to have him on board," Ruskin said. "We certainly have a lot of work to do."