POTSDAM -- Drafty conditions in off-campus apartments can drive up energy bills and chill students’ winters, so some Clarkson students are talking up how to make those apartments more comfortable while reducing energy consumption and helping the environment.

The “Saving Energy Makes Cent$: Students and Property Owners Reducing Energy Use” forum at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the Student Center Multi-purpose Rooms, will offer tips on how students and landlords can work together to make small improvements in their apartments, like installing plastic window seals and high efficiency light bulbs. The goal of the forum is to develop a strategy for

Finding ways to implement those improvements at rental properties across Potsdam is the goal.

Students, landlords, and Potsdam community members are all invited to attend. A panel consisting of energy auditor Gerald Loch, School of Business Professor and landlord Marc Compeau, student renter Matt Desmarais, and Political Science Professor Stephen Bird will discuss obstacles to energy efficiency in student housing and answer questions from the attendees.

“We really wanted to do something that would affect the behavior of the students where it will have a lasting impression on them after they leave Clarkson,” says Joseph Robbins, one of the forum co-organizers.

Gregory Pedric, a project manager for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and a 1976 Clarkson graduate, is the keynote speaker.

The organizers hope the discussion will lead to community-wide implementation of free energy audits in rental properties, as nearly 1,000 of Potsdam’s homes are more than 70 years old and could benefit from upgrades, Robbins says.

Clarkson is a residential campus, although a number of students, including older and married students, or those living in Greek housing, reside off campus.