Howard University – Najah Hopkins – 2011

Najah Hopkins and Ehizogie Idugboe spent their summers as EDF Climate Corps fellows at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where they are working toward MBA degrees. Howard is a non-profit, private, historically black university with 10,000 students. Hopkins and Idugboe analyzed energy efficiency opportunities based on the highest net present value and internal rate of returns, shortest payback period and adequate fit for Howard’s operations.

Hopkins and Idugboe completed baseline and rate analysis at the university’s Service Center and recommended lighting retrofits and water conservation measures for quick energy reduction, cost savings and a smaller carbon footprint. These recommendations included de-lamping bulbs in over-lit areas, replacing incandescent exit signs with LED exit signs and installing low-flow solar fixtures. Hopkins and Idugboe spent a portion of their time developing a campus-wide sustainability program that includes individual metering of all buildings, starting with dorms and classrooms.

In total, Hopkins and Idugboe proposed 13 projects that could cut utility costs by 38% annually, save over 2.7 million gallons of water and reduce electricity consumption by 1.4 million kWh. Over a five-year period, Howard University could save more than $1 million in net operational costs.