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HOUGHTON - There is a new enterprise on campus that aims to get Michigan Technological University community members to think twice before they drive to class, leave their computer running or turn on a light.

The Green Campus Enterprise is a student-run organization which aims to reduce the university's greenhouse gas emissions through short- and long-term goals, and learn valuable business skills while they do it.

The enterprise was founded in December on the recommendation of the university's Carbon Neutral Academic Quality Improvement Program. One of the first tasks the team completed determined the amount of greenhouse gases the university community is responsible for annually. To do this, they used the Clean Air-Cool Planet Campus Carbon Calculator, which can be found at cleanair-coolplanet.org.

"This counts all the greenhouse gas emissions in excruciating detail," said member Charles Workman, a chemical engineering major.

The group said it considered commutes to campus from off-campus housing, flights made by faculty and staff for university business and energy used on campus. The group did not count energy used by students who live off-campus or the trips students made to move to campus for the school year.

In total, enterprise members determined the campus generates about 73,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is about 10 tons for every student and employee on campus. Group members noted that because 47 percent of those emissions result from electricity from utility companies, there are many opportunities to decrease use.

"There's a plethora of potential around here to save energy," said member Jessica Banda, a scientific and technical communication major.

Team co-advisor Kristine Bradof said the initial study provides a baseline to measure future annual measures against.

To begin, the team hopes to reach short-term goals, or "lower-hanging fruit," as Workman described them. A campus culture team, led by Banda, has made presentations on reducing carbon emissions and encouraged students to recycle and decrease energy and water use.

The group is also planning an energy savings competition, known as Eco-Olympics, to be held amongst residence halls in 2010, she said. Banda said because students in the residence halls do not pay a utility bill, they may not realize how much energy they use.

She said the competition may feature "technology that would be able to show the students' energy use in real-time." She said at other universities, this technology has been shown to reduce energy consumption by up to 56 percent.

Another division of the enterprise, the wind power team, is exploring wind turbines as a source for campus energy. Workman, who leads the group, said it has presented information to university officials about the costs of a year-long study of wind speed and direction to determine the cost and benefits of installing wind power on or near campus. Additionally, they are evaluating other funding sources and programs, he said.

Workman and Banda said although their team is new, they have received positive feedback from the campus community. They noted an e-mail survey they conducted received almost 2,000 responses right away.

"Overall students have been really excited about our work," Banda said.

The team currently has 15 members, but knows of students interested in joining, Workman said. As the enterprise grows, members will be able to take on more projects, he said. Additionally, as the group develops, it hopes to build and enhance partnerships with utility companies, businesses and the community both outside and within the university.

Banda said the group has already reached out to other student groups focused on sustainability.

"We'll have regular meetings with them and definitely see what we can do to help them out and vice versa," she said.

Layla Aslani can be reached at laslani@mininggazette.com.