King Shut roams the halls of the Durham Research Centers. Have you seen him?
He doesn’t often sport his curly locks, gold crown and sash, but that confident and knowledgeable, albeit jovial, swagger is unmistakable.
The UNMC LiveGreen team was there in full paparazzi mode when he emerged for his first public appearance.
He was going to check the status of the sashes on the hoods in his labs. Would they be shut?
“I know shutting the sash can be a royal pain. If anyone knows what a royal pain is, that’d be me,” declared King Shut.
Some sashes were open, some were shut. King Shut remembers a time when most were open.
In the fall of 2012, the Durham Research Center had a 22 percent sash closure rate with DRC II a slightly better 38.8 percent. Then, in December 2012, UNMC LiveGreen volunteers placed a “please fully close the sash” reminder sticker on each fume hood.
During the sticker campaign, the volunteers also chatted with researchers about the reasons why fully shutting the sash is important.
Shutting the sash:
- Conserves energy and reduces UNMC’s environmental impact.
- Ensures safety of self and colleagues.
- Limits the amount of conditioned air that exits the building.
- Prevents alarms from being triggered in the evening for some research buildings.
The hoods were checked again recently and King Shut was proud to report that the DRC had increased its sash closure rate to 47.5 percent and DRC II stayed ahead with 54.3 percent. A hood only counts as shut if it is fully closed.
“I am impressed with this improvement in sash shutting. But I am surprised more sashes aren’t shut. I find wearing my royal sash helps me to remember to shut the sash in the lab. I wonder if I share my sash with others if it will help increase the number of sashes that shut,” pondered King Shut.
Well, it is worth a try. By royal decree, this Thursday, Aug. 15 – be on the lookout for the Shut Your Sash campaign. We’ll be stopping by labs in the research towers to check sashes. If yours is fully shut, you’ll be rewarded with a photo-op and sweet treat.