Honeywell and Philadelphia University Launch Energy Education and Awareness Campaign

Act! Earth Program will Promote Sustainability Practices to Optimize Energy Savings and Reduce Environmental Impact

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Oct 25, 2011, 08:00 ET

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE:HON) and Philadelphia University today announced the launch of a campus-wide energy education and awareness campaign aimed at promoting sustainable practices among students, faculty and the local community that will help reduce the university's energy costs and environmental impact.

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The sustainability campaign, Act! Earth, builds on the university's decade-long relationship with Honeywell, which has focused on modernizing school facilities and infrastructure with energy-efficient equipment and processes. These efforts have already trimmed annual utility costs by an estimated $400,000.

The Act! Earth campaign kicked off during the fall 2011 semester, and Honeywell is working with the university to develop educational events and student activities that promote improved practices in energy management. Honeywell will also help communicate the university's initiatives through digital and social media, such as the school's sustainability website. In addition, Honeywell recently hired a graduate student from the Philadelphia University sustainable design program to work as an Act! Earth coordinator, and assist in organizing and managing the campaign.

"Educating people about sustainability practices is not just a feel-good exercise — it's an important part of optimizing bottom-line energy savings that building upgrades can deliver," said Stephen Spinelli Jr., Ph.D., president of Philadelphia University. "With this Honeywell program, we're going beyond the retrofit to make a broader impact on how our campus community manages energy, ultimately driving greater economic and environmental benefits for the university."

Act! Earth was initiated to help Philadelphia University fulfill its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as part of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Honeywell has helped Philadelphia University maintain its GHG inventory, which is the first step in the commitment process. The GHG inventory provides a comprehensive snapshot of emissions tied to university operations.

As part of the campaign, Honeywell also will install an energy dashboard kiosk in the university's new Center for Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Design (SEED) — a 14,000-square-foot facility built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards. (The official LEED rating for the building is pending.) The Web-based dashboard will pull data from electricity, gas and water meters across several campus facilities into a single, easy-to-read view to show real-time energy consumption data, energy cost savings, and carbon dioxide emissions reductions.

Act! Earth builds on a relationship established in 2001 when Honeywell helped outfit the university with a variety of building control systems and energy conservation measures across 25 campus facilities, covering more than 840,000 square feet of space or approximately 80 percent of the campus. These improvements included enhanced building controls, an energy management system and sub-metering to improve visibility into energy consumption. Honeywell also integrated the SEED building's heating and cooling systems, temperature controls and meters into the school's energy management system.

To date, Philadelphia University has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 3,360 metric tons per year, which is equivalent to removing more than 650 cars off the road, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Demonstrating carbon neutrality and improving campus facilities while keeping an eye on the bottom line are pressing issues facing nearly every college and university nationwide," said Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell Building Solutions. "Through the awareness, communication and education efforts of the Act! Earth initiative, we are helping Philadelphia University establish a long-term energy sustainability strategy to responsibly address these challenges."

Honeywell International (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com. Honeywell Building Solutions is part of the Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions business group, a global leader in providing product and service solutions that improve efficiency and profitability, support regulatory compliance, and maintain safe, comfortable environments in homes, buildings and industry. For more information about Building Solutions, access www.honeywell.com/buildingsolutions.

Philadelphia University, founded in 1884, is a private university with 3,600 students enrolled in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate programs. As the model for professional university education, the University prepares students to be leaders in their professions in an active, collaborative and real-world learning environment infused with the liberal arts. Philadelphia University includes the College of Architecture and the Built Environment; the College of Design, Engineering and Commerce; and the College of Science, Health and the Liberal Arts. For more information, go to www.PhilaU.edu.

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