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Success Story: Food Co-op – University of Maryland

Partner Information

Located in College Park, Maryland
4,000-sq.ft. leased retail space in student union building
Annual Cash Savings: $649.00
Annual Energy savings: 9,105 kWh
Payback period: 2.6 years
Prevented 10,926 pounds of pollution

Student-Run Business Learns That Persistence Pays

The students who run the Maryland Food Co-op at the University of Maryland have always been eager to push the frontier of environmentally sustainable business practices. However, because the Co-op was a tenant in a building scheduled for major reconstruction, it faced significant hurdles to getting energy-efficiency projects accomplished.

That Groovy Little Sandwich Shop

The Maryland Food Co-op is a student-owned and student- operated sandwich shop that has been a fixture in the basement of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union Building at the University of Maryland, College Park for more than 20 years. One would never guess that it does more than $0.5 million in business annually.

From the organic food to the T-shirt slogans, the Co-op projects a strong environmental message. Naturally, energy efficiency and pollution prevention are important goals to the students who manage the Co-op.

Tenant Urges Response

Because the Co-op was a tenant in the student union building, the students were not in a position to implement energy upgrades independently; they flooded the facilities office with letters and phone calls.

The store desperately needed better lighting. Over time, burned-out ballasts and broken fluorescent lamp holders accumulated until the cheerful place lost its sunny ambiance. Maintenance had become a real headache for both tenant and landlord.

Through letters and meetings, several Co-op members developed a rapport with the building’s facilities director. Engineering students involved with the Co-op helped to calculate the savings potential in lighting upgrades. They even performed a sample conversion on two fixtures, removing the standard lamps and ballasts and installing T-8s and electronic ballasts.

One morning, the students were amazed to discover that all the lighting in the store had been converted. Because many of the existing fixtures were not functioning, and T-8 fluorescents are generally between 10 and 15 percent brighter anyway, the raised light level was obvious, even startling. It looked like a new store.

The students at the Co-op learned that the lighting upgrade was one of the last things the facilities director did before moving to a new position at another campus. He was happy to get the job done for such an enthusiastic bunch, and he could justify it because the long operating hours and the maintenance savings made the payback period shorter than it would have been in other parts of the building.

The Environment And Simple Payback

The upgrade at the Maryland Food Co-op recently passed the 2.6- year mark, which was important because that was the simple payback calculated for the project. And because the renovation of the building is still about 3 years away, this project will show an excellent return — 26 percent — on the University’s investment.

According to students who operate the Co-op, the pollution prevented through reducing the energy use was priceless, because it contributes to their goal to operate a sustainable business.