Jay Phillips

Credit: Gosia Sklodowska/Jon Chapman

As Director of Energy, Sustainability and Infrastructure at Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and member of the Energy Management Team, Jay Phillips has demonstrated his tireless commitment to sustainability through many important environmental initiatives on campus. This commitment started at the office as environmental sustainability became a focus of the University, and now he is generally more cognizant of his own personal consumption and waste stream. "I just think a lot more about sustainability than I used to," he explains. At Harvard he's been on the steering committee for the Resource Efficiency Program (REP), has collaborated with the Computer Energy Reduction Program (now the FAS Green Program), and the Green Campus Loan Fund. Jay is also a Certified Energy Manager and Certified Carbon Reduction Manager with the Association of Energy Engineers and a LEED Accredited Professional. Current sustainability measures involve expanding the use of wind energy, geothermal, co-generation, and photovoltaics, as well as lighting and mechanical retrofits, installing occupancy sensors and Variable Frequency Drives on HVAC systems, second use of grey water for irrigation, green cafes, and behavioral change programs. In response to Harvard’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) commitment, Jay is hard at work on implementing a GHG Program at FAS. Jay is also co-chairing one of the Harvard GHG planning committees and is involved with at least two others. When asked what it will take to achieve these reductions, he explained that "the challenge is to do this despite a huge increase in square footage and energy use." Also, he believes, students will need to keep the pressure on in order to push forward these changes.