Put Down the Books, Pick Up the Caulking Guns
Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management do more than study issues like carbon footprints and energy consumption … they’re ready to tackle such subjects hands-on.
That’s what a group of students, faculty and staff did last week when they put down their laptops and picked up some caulking guns.
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On May 8, the group spent the day caulking windows throughout the E52 building on campus to help conserve energy. By day’s end, the volunteer caulkers had used up 60 tubes of the gooey sealant on sashes and window frames.
The effort was organized by John Sterman, who’s director of MIT’s System Dynamics Group. He said he got the idea upon realizing that E52’s windows are not only original but in poor shape. Caulking was the best short-term solution until a full-scale and costly renovation of the building can get under way, he said.
“In the meantime, caulking saves energy and also creates a great opportunity to involve the entire Sloan community in a project that truly expresses the ‘Mens et Manus’ (”mind and hand”) spirit of MIT,” Sterman said. “Everyone had a great time, and those with no prior experience learned a skill they can use to save energy in their own homes.”
The apprentice fixer-uppers managed to caulk all the windows on two floors and some on two other floors. The improved window seals are expected to save the school at least $4,400 a year in natural gas heating expenses, MBA student Adam Siegel estimated.
Sterman said hopes to organize another caulking party in the fall to finish the rest of E52’s windows.
