Features

Who left the lights on?

Discovery Communications and energy conservation

BY MARJORIE CLARKSON

Blazing light like a beacon, the Discovery Communications building beckons all to look at it and admire its impressive design and dimensions. The building glows so brightly at night pedestrians become an audience for the characterless but stage-lit offices, conference rooms, and corridors in the 555,000 square foot building.

One photographer suggested Discovery’s decision to keep all the lights on until late in the evening might be an indulgence in "narcissistic architectural display."

The building is most beautiful at night, glowing pale gold throughout with accents of neon pinks, blues, and greens. But vanity can come at a high price and the price in this case would be excessive energy consumption.

Discovery says it is not vanity; not a desire to either show off their building, or be the beacon on the hill proving Silver Spring’s new prosperity that motivates the extensive lighting of the property. Security they say is the reason.

"Security is an important consideration for the lights. The building has 24 hour security," responded David Leavy of Discovery to my quests about the lighting.

Leavy, Senior Vice President of Communications, described the building as energy efficient. He said, "Discovery believes strongly in conservation. . . . Thus far, we have taken a number of steps to increase conservation such as shutting off the lights at 10:30 p.m., shutting the elevator lights, as well as shutting off the lights over weekends."

I contacted Discovery in mid-December of 2003 about the lighting because I had noticed the lights were on all the time, nights and weekends included. On Friday, January 23rd I walked around the building at 9:50 p.m. and found all the lights on, compared to the scattered lights burning in the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration buildings and other nearby office buildings. On Sunday, January 25th at 10:45 p.m., I walked the same route around the Discovery building and found that only emergency and security lighting were on.

As Leavy stated, some steps to increase energy conservation have been put in place at the Discovery headquarters.

But their continuing and obvious high use of electricity troubles Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network because "one-half of the electricity in this area comes from burning coal. . . . This contributes to asthma, smog, acid rain and accelerates global warming."

Tidwell believes all corporations should "ruthlessly root out energy inefficient practices." he says, "this is a major public policy issue which affects their shareholders, their children, and their neighbors."

Remembering that Pepco’s monthly bills sometimes include flyers offering tips on how to conserve energy in the home, I decided to call them and ask if they offered conservation advice to private companies like Discovery.

Pepco spokesperson Bob Dobkin told me his company did not, but businesses could buy this kind of advice from companies like Pepco Energy Services, an unregulated subsidiary of Pepco holdings.

Pepco Energy Services is one of the many companies that comprise an industry of energy-efficiency consulting businesses, according to Ann Elsen, Energy Planner for the Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Elsen has been developing a conservation energy program for county government employees called "Energy Wise Offices," which will be launched concurrently with the county’s purchase of wind power. The program will encourage employees to turn off the lights and computers when they leave their offices, particularly before the weekends. These two simple actions could yield a savings of $400,000 annually for the county government.

Elsen must fight the myths that turning lights on and off consumes more energy than leaving them on if one is out of the office only a short time and that computers are damaged if they are turned on and off several times a day.

"You save energy whenever you turn lights off," Elsen says.

"A similar myth that it is better for a computer to be on all the time is wrong because the fan that runs when it is on is sucking in dust, and computers are designed now to be turned on and off a dozen times a day."

Elsen spoke of the Montgomery County school program SERT (School Eco-Response Team) that empowers students to patrol their schools, turning out lights and computers to save energy. She said she could imagine that an energy-conservation outreach program to private companies with children acting as spokespersons for the environment would be effective since it is their future our excessive energy consumption will compromise.

All who walk by their property in the evenings can conspicuously see Discovery Communications’s attitude toward energy conservation. By reducing the lighting, as they recently have, they communicate their concern for the environment and their community. By reducing it more they will communicate their willingness to be a model for other businesses in Silver Spring.

After all, a brilliantly-lighted building can dazzle the eyes but it can also prevent us from seeing the night sky. A night sky sparkling with stars offers a subtle beauty that inspires wonder and a desire to discover.