Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 29, 1994 TAG: 9405310111
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Former Gov. Wilder wanted to cut out all funding for the center in a budget he submitted to the General Assembly before leaving office this year. But the businesses and government agencies the center serves came to its defense and the General Assembly gave it a reprieve.
One who knows the value of Randolph's center is Bill Beachy, who runs a weatherization program for low-income housing in the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
In 1988 people working with the weatherization program began to suspect that the things they had done over the previous 15 years to weatherize 60,000 Virginia homes but that they were not doing the best job.
Around the same time, they began to get excited about the possible benefits of high-density wall insulation and new air-sealing methods that were being used in Northern states. Up until that time the Virginia program, which was then administered by the Virginia Association of Community Action Agencies, had concentrated on insulating attics, installing storm windows, and caulking, weather stripping, and wrapping water heaters.
The association realized it needed a study to determine how the new techniques would work in Virginia's milder climate. It turned to the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research for help.
"We wanted to look at the program we were operating and see if we were providing the best assistance we could provide," Beachy said. The Tech center had the expertise to do the study or knew where to find it.
The center designed a study that looked first at the savings and cost-effectiveness of the existing weatherization program, something that had not been done before; identified promising new energy saving techniques; and, finally, evaluated the usefulness of the new techniques in Virginia through a pilot program.
The study showed that Virginia's existing weatherization program "was far from cost effective and yielded little savings." The only major measure in the existing program that was found to be worth keeping was attic insulation.
On the other hand, the coal and energy center's team concluded that using the new weaterization methods provided average heat savings of 24 percent in an average single-family home, a substantial improvement over the 10 percent savings under the existing program.
The study led to significant changes in what the weatherization program was doing. In fact, Beachy said, those running the program were convinced the changes had to be made even before the center's final report was written.
\ It's in services like the state weatherization program that Randolph says lies the worth of the center. It's a role that's highly valued by others in government and business, but, as Randolph and his staff have discovered, not by everyone.
During this year's General Assembly session, Wilder tried for the second time to have funding for the center deleted from the state budget. Business executives, state agency officials and members of the legislature rushed to the center's defense and funding was partially restored.
Bill Bales, Norfolk Southern Corp.'s vice president for coal marketing, serves on the center's advisory board and was one of many who wrote letters urging the legislature to restore the center's funding. The center has a fine reputation across the country for the work it does with limited resources, Bales said.
Despite Wilder's effort to cut funding, the General Assembly restored $200,000 or two-thirds of what the center had requested for operating funds for the next biennium, which begins July 1.
The reduced budget will mean some cutbacks of worktime for some center employees, a reduction in the frequency of the center's newsletter from six to four times a year and more contracting out of the center's services.
The money supports the half-time salary of Randolph and a quarter-time positon for associate director, Carl Zipper, both of whom spend the remainder of their work days teaching classes at Tech.
Randoph, 46, is a native Minnesotan, who holds a masters degree and doctorate from Stanford University in civil engineering. He has been the part-time director of the center since 1988. He also teaches environmental planning in Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies.
Zipper, 45, is originally from the New Jersey suburbs of New York City. He holds a master's degree from Tech in agricultural economics and a doctorate from Tech in agronomy with an emphasis on mined-land reclamation.
Also on the center payroll is Johanna Jones, a publications and information director, and a secretary. Jones, 35, holds and English degree from the University of Massachusetts. She worked as a public-relations specialist in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering before coming to the center. She drops to half time with the budget cut.
The center also receives some additional funding for contracted research, including $35,000 for the current budget year. That money can be used to pay the salaries of graduate students who are helping with various research projects.
Randolph says he believes the General Assembly would like to wean all research centers at state universities from state support. A 1986 appropriations bill asked for an evaluation of the performance of all such centers.
In both 1989 and 1993 the coal and energy center was evaluated using state Council of Higher Education guidelines, which involved both a self-study and a review from outside. Both studies concluded the center had been a valuable source of information to state agencies, the General Assembly and Virginia industry and should continue.
As a public service research center, the staff is basically "on call'' to respond to questions from the General Assembly and state agencies, Randolph said. Often, he said, the legislature will give it a task to perform but not give it any money to do it with.
The value of the center is in providing "factual" and "rational" information to policy makers so they can make better decisions on energy issues critical to Virginia's economy, Zipper said.
The center looks at both problems and opportunities in the state's energy future, Randolph said. The center looks at such issues as the relatively short time left for Virginia's coal reserves and the need to mine coal more efficiently to offset harm to the environment.
"We haven't shied away from controversial subjects," he said.
A study the center conducted that showed the collapse of the earth following mining could harm water supplies drew a strong reaction from the mining industry. But the fact the center does careful research helped temper that reaction.
The center helps the university fulfill its public service role. "The university is no longer an ivory tower, especially the land-grant university," Zipper said.
Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, said the center has been a good source of information for the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission on which he serves. "It's been a very valuable resource for the coal industry," Thomas said, noting the state wants to increase its coal exports.
Thomas led the effort in the House of Delegates this year to restore the center's funding. Last year Thomas helped get the center's budget included as a line item in the state budget. Before that change, the center had been included as part of Virginia Tech's budget, allowing the university to cut the center's funding without consulting the legislature.
The center's budget woes may be partly due to a reluctance on the part of the staff to blow its own horn. "Maybe what we've done is not as evident as we'd like to see," Zipper said.
The center was established in 1977 by an act of the legislature. It has a three-part mission: to conduct research on coal and energy issues, to coordinate coal and energy research at Virginia Tech and statewide, and to make information about the research available across the state.
Four periodicals on coal and energy issues are published by the center, including a bi-monthly newsletter, Energy Outlook, which is mailed to 3,600 subscribers. Jones, who supervises the newsletter, says its mailing list includes academics, state officials, the Virginia Congressional delegation and university libraries. Randolph said it's surprising how many calls the center gets in response to articles appearing in the newsletter.
The center also publishes reports on its research, covering such topics as coal exports, solar energy, and the use of wood wastes for fuel in state facilities.
Charles Simmons, a vice president for Appalachian Power Co., said he would have been disappointed if the legislature had allowed Wilder to do away with funding for the center.
"I think an intelligent, objective view of the industry, both its problems and opportunities is very important," he said.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB