In light of the University of Michi-
gan’s commitment to achieve carbon
neutrality for both on-campus and
purchased-power emissions by 2040,
community members are consider-
ing how the University can introduce
more energy-efficient lighting proce-
dures.
Multiple buildings and common
areas across campus close each night
and remain inaccessible to students,
staff and faculty, but continue to be
lit with the same light intensity as
during business hours, according
to Kevin Morgan, manager of the
Energy Management Program at
the Office of Campus Sustainability.
Individual students or staff cannot
turn these lights off — they are gen-
erally managed by facilities staff in
each building.
Electricity generated to illumi-
nate these interiors on campus falls
under Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
This means that emissions associ-
ated with lighting are produced by
electricity from both the University’s
own power plant and purchases from
other energy utilities.
Why does the University leave
these lights on? And are there ways
the campus could be lit in a more effi-
cient way?
Safety, campus environment and
architecture
It’s unclear exactly how much
lighting
accounts
for
electric-
ity usage and carbon emissions from
buildings on campus. The U.S. Ener-
gy Information Administration cited
data from a survey indicating light-
ing accounts for 17% of the electricity
consumed in U.S. commercial build-
ings, but the survey does not break
down how much of that demand
comes from lights left on beyond
business hours.
In an email to The Daily, Univer-
sity spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen
said the amount of electricity used
for lighting varies across buildings,
making it difficult to quantify the
impact overnight lights have on ener-
gy consumption.
“Energy use from lighting can
vary based on a building’s design,
age, lighting code at the time of con-
struction or renovation, and lighting
system updates,” Broekhuizen said.
Morgan said the primary rea-
son lights are left on in buildings is
for safety purposes. He said even
if a building is closed to the public,
these “uncontrollable lights” need
to remain on so maintenance facili-
ties staff can safely enter or exit the
buildings if they need to address
emergency electrical issues.
“By code, we need to assume
someone is in there, and we need to
make sure they can get out safely,”
Morgan said.
Morgan referred to the Michigan
Building Code, which requires com-
mon spaces to provide a minimum
amount of “emergency lighting”
for individuals to traverse through
spaces such as hallways and stairs.
These rules apply to recently con-
structed buildings but are not neces-
sarily required of older buildings on
campus.
The code also mandates that
lights remain active 24/7, meaning a
minimum amount of light is required
in on-campus common areas even
when the building is closed to the
public.
Unless a building is being decom-
missioned, such as being set for a
renovation or demolition, Morgan
said the University legally cannot
deactivate lighting systems for com-
mon spaces, even if nobody is inhab-
iting them.
Broekhuizen said the University is
open to energy conservation sugges-
tions from the community.
“We appreciate the U-M com-
munity helping us to identify ways
to reduce our energy use, and in the
case of lighting, noting when lights
should be turned off if not necessary
for safety or wayfinding,” Broekhui-
zen said.
CSG Vice President Carla Voigt,
an Engineering senior, told The Daily
in a message that the University
could do more to turn these lights off.
“I think as many lights as possible
should be turned off to reduce light
pollution and energy waste,” Voigt
said. “The safety of our students
is incredibly important. However,
there are many places on campus
with lights on that aren’t necessary
for safety, such as inside empty build-
ings or other non-populated areas.”
Voigt was previously a campaign
manager for the CSG party Rep-
resent Michigan, which proposed
turning off the lights at the Michigan
Stadium as a sustainability measure.
The stadium’s lights remain on over-
night, and athletics officials have
previously stated the lights need to
stay on for “safety and security pur-
poses.”
While building codes mandate
many spaces remain illuminated,
Morgan noted some lights may be
deliberately left on as a choice of
the building designer to highlight
architectural features. He suggested
that lights might be left on at Ross to
emphasize the glass box design fea-
tures.
In an email to The Daily, Grant
Faber, a U-M alum who contrib-
uted to the Student Advisory Panel
of the President’s Commission on
Carbon Neutrality and has worked
in sustainability and carbon capture
research, said lights may often be
left on to create the feeling of a living
campus environment to community
members.
There are multiple energy conser-
vation measures that increase energy
efficiency, such as installing LED
lights to replace fluorescent lights,
which consume more electricity.
Morgan said fluorescent lights are
currently the most common type of
light used on campus.
Morgan said the University gen-
erally requires new construction
projects to utilize LED lighting, and
multiple University units have been
updating their lighting fixtures in
recent years. For the lights that are
required to be left on, Morgan said
these efficiency improvements could
be valuable in reducing energy con-
sumption.
“We know that that light needs to
be delivered to that space, so we’ll do
our best to make it as efficient as pos-
sible,” Morgan said. “That’s the best
we can do.”
Adam Simon, professor of earth
and environmental sciences, said
another option to reduce unneces-
sary lighting is to install sensors
that turn lights off when there’s no
movement in the room. Many class-
rooms and offices already contain
sensors that perform this function.
Simon said sensors help the Univer-
sity “circumvent human behavior”
when individuals forget to turn off
lights.
“What you’re doing there is you’re
bypassing having students do it,”
Simon said. “You don’t need humans
to make that decision. It’s just done
by the silent hand behind the scenes.”
To pay for these kinds of upgrades,
the University proposed a revolv-
ing energy fund as part of its car-
bon neutrality announcement. The
fund would allow the University to
finance investments in energy con-
servation, such as LED lighting and
motion sensors, and regain the funds
through the cost savings generated
by these investments.
Simon said using this approach
was “low-hanging fruit” that could
also create funds to go toward spend-
ing for students, including schol-
arships. He noted that Harvard
University had implemented a simi-
lar energy fund years ago.
“The revolving energy fund cer-
tainly is something that myself and
many colleagues on campus really
advocated for, because other univer-
sities have quantified cost savings …
(and have) reduced annual energy
costs,” Simon said. “That allows you
to have more discretionary revenue
for other things that benefit students,
and you reduce emissions.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, December 8, 2021
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the
Winter 2021 semester by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office
for $2. If you would like a current copy of the paper mailed to you, please visit store.
pub.umich.edu/michigan-daily-buy-this-edition to place your order.
BRITTANY BOWMAN
Managing Editor babowm@umich.edu
BARBARA COLLINS and LIAT WEINSTEIN
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: Emma Ruberg, Hannah Mackay, Calder Lewis, Jasmin
Lee, Kristina Zheng, Lily Gooding
Investigative Editor: Sammy Sussman
FOIA Manager: Ayse Eldes
ELIZABETH COOK and JOEL WEINER
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Julian Barnard, Brandon Cowit, Shubhum Giroti, Jessie
Mitchell, Evan Stern
ELISE GODFRYD and ELIZABETH YOON
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
ALLISON ENGKVIST and MADDIE HINKLEY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com
ANDIE HOROWITZ
Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Editors: Samantha Cole, Leo Krinsky
MADISON GAGNE and OLIVIA BRADISH
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Caroline Atkinson, Anjali Chiravuri, Ethan Patrick,
Kelsey Burke, Emily Wilson, Vanita Seed, Ellen Howell, Kathryn Kulie, Rena
McRoy, Alison Chesnick
PARTH DHYANI and NAITIAN ZHOU
Managing Online Editors
webteam@michigandaily.com
Project Managers: Rimaz Khan, Alex Cotignola, Jessica Chiu, Simran Pujji
IULIA DOBRIN and ANNIKA WANG
Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Noor Moughni, Maya Kadouh, Eliya Imtiaz,
Jessica Kwon, Lola Yang
Senior Sports Editors: Drew Cox, Lily Friedman, Jack Kingsley, Brendan Roose,
Daniel Dash, Jared Greenspan, Jacob Cohen
Senior Video Editors: Margaret Rudnick, Jordan Shefman
Senior Social Media Editors: Kirti Aplash, Natalie Knight, Cristina Costin,
Ryan Postman, Evan DeLorenzo, Sarah Kent, Bella Morreale
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com
SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com
NEWS TIPS
tipline@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
TARA MOORE
Business Manager
business@michigandaily.com
CLAIRE HAO
Editor-in-Chief
eic@michigandaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
news@michigandaily.com
CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com
LANE KIZZIAH and KENT SCHWARTZ
Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Kari Anderson, Drew Gadbois, Andrew Pluta, Grace
Tucker, Sophia Yoon
Arts Beat Editors: Lilly Pearce, Peter Hummer, Mik Deitz, Sabriya Imami,
Kaitlyn Fox, Anya Soller
SHANNON STOCKING and ALLISON YIH
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
ANAMIKA KANNAN and GABRIJELA SKOKO
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Editorial Staff
Business Staff
Senior Photo Editors: Emma Mati, Miles Macklin, Becca Mahon, Julia
Schachinger
Assistant Photo Editors: Grace Beal, Tess Crowley, Kate Hua, Jarett Orr,
Dominick Sokotoff
RORI MILLER
Creative Director
EMILY OHL and GERALD SILL
Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com
SCHUYLER JANZEN
Sales Manager
ADVERTISING
WMG-contact@umich.edu
JACK GRIEVE
Digital Managing Editor jgrieve@umich.edu
ALEX HARRING and SARAH SZALAI
Co-Chairs of Access & Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com
Senior Podcast Editors: Doug McClure, Max Rosenzweig, Avin Katyal
Associate Editor: Julia Maloney
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Players celebrate in Indianapolis after a win at the Big Ten Championship Game the night of Dec. 4.
PHOTO
Senior Layout Editor: Sophie Grand
Despite energy use, safety protocols require campus spaces to remain lit
CAMPUS LIFE
Ever wondered why University building
lights stay on at night? Here’s why.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
ARJUN THAKKAR
Daily Staff Reporter
UMich removes two questions related to job
applicants’ criminal history
Questions will still be asked during background check after accepting offer
PUBLIC SAFETY
In early November, the University
of Michigan announced they would
remove two questions related to
job applicants’ criminal history and
background.
These two questions previously
asked if applicants have “been
convicted of a misdemeanor or felony,
including alcohol- or drug-related
driving offenses” and if there are any
felony charges currently pending
against them.
The University will still ask these
questions
during
a
background
check after the job applicant has
accepted the position, according to
the University Record.
The decision follows calls from
criminal justice activists and student
organizations to “ban the box,” which
refers to employers that ask applicants
to check a box indicating whether
they have any criminal charges. In
Aug. 2020, the University removed
questions asking applicants about
misdemeanor charges in applications
for admission to the University.
University
spokesperson
Kim
Broekhuizen told The Michigan Daily
in an email that the decision was
made to encourage job seekers by not
initially disclosing their background
to the University.
“The point of it is to conduct job
interviews first and select candidates
that
are
well
qualified
before
conducting a background check and
considering whether any convictions
are job-related,” Broekhuizen said.
“The process helps protect job
candidates from disqualification based
on a non-job-related conviction, and
it helps job seekers simply feel more
confident about applying without
upfront disclosures that might cause
good candidates to never apply.”
Broekhuizen
also
said
the
University studied other employers
that removed this question from their
application process, which ultimately
encouraged them to do the same.
Broekhuizen wrote in her email that
the University’s decision to remove
the two questions was not a result of
campus activism.
“This change resulted from the
desire to assess and recognize the
impact on equity and inclusion
in
the
University’s
employment
process. Although there is activist
activity locally and nationally in
support of banning the box, the
University’s decision wasn’t related
to campus activism or organizations,”
Broekhuizen said.
Matthew
Lassiter,
history
professor and co-director of the
Carceral State Project, has been
advocating for this change since 2019
when he helped draft an open letter
EditSign criticizing the University for
implementing a new felony disclosure
policy. The policy, known as SPG
601.38, took effect in Feb. 2019 and
requires all community members
to report any felony convictions or
charges to the University within a
week or face penalties.
Lassiter said the decision to
remove the two questions is a step in
the right direction, but said he was
disappointed by how long it took
to make the change and worries
that it may not do enough to make a
significant improvement.
CHRISTIAN JULIANO
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com