Easy green tip: always use the revolving doors!

If you're looking for easy ways to get greener, here's one I'd never really thought about: use revolving doors rather than swing doors when you've got the option. 

 

A group of students at MIT calculated that swing doors cause about eight times as much outside air to enter buildings as the revolving doors do.  The building's air conditioner or heater has to process all that air, which of course uses energy. 

 

And while it's not a ton of energy, it's not insignificant, either:

 

"A single person walking through a revolving door in February saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for 23 minutes," said Wesolowski, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering.  (MIT News)

 

Which means it's also the equivalent of leaving on the equivalent 13-watt CFL lightbulb for nearly two hours.  That's something I'd feel bad about doing-- now I need to think of that when I have a choice of what door to use.

 

And raising awareness makes a difference.  In tests around campus, MIT students also found that putting up signs saying "Help Conserve Energy, Please Use the Revolving Door" raised revolving door use from 23 percent to 65 percent.  So spread the word, and maybe even ask about putting up signs at your workplace-- tell 'em that the MIT students calculated they'd save $7,500 yearly on energy costs in just one campus building if everyone used the revolving doors!

 

(via Ideal Bite, who'll e-mail you green tips daily-- sign up for free!)