Simpson Inducted Into Energy Managers’ Hall of Fame

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Walter Simpson, energy officer at the University at Buffalo and director of its UB Green office, was inducted into the Association of Energy Engineers "Energy Managers' Hall of Fame" on Oct. 27 at the 23rd World Energy Engineering Congress in Atlanta.

Induction into the hall of fame recognizes an individual for his or her lifetime achievements in the energy industry.

Energy officer at UB since 1982, Simpson developed a nationally recognized campus energy-conservation program -- Conserve UB -- that is credited with annual energy savings of $9 million and cumulative savings of more than $60 million.

Prior to 1992, the Conserve UB program had implemented 300 energy-conservation measures and projects on UB's two campuses. Between 1992 and 1997, Simpson brought together a diverse team of UB facilities engineers and technicians to work with Sempra Energy Services -- formerly CES/Way International, a Houston-based energy-conservation company -- to implement a self-financing, national award-winning $17 million project responsible for annual savings of $3 million. Two of the most cost-effective saving measures of the project were a gas-conversion and heat-recovery system implemented in the Cooke-Hochstetter complex on the North (Amherst) Campus and a massive retrofit of 60,000 light fixtures on campus that now produce the same amount of lighting using 40 percent less electricity.

A certified energy engineer and certified lighting-efficiency professional, Simpson also has worked in the national arena promoting campus energy-conservation, as well as campus environmental stewardship. He has received many energy and environmental awards, and is the author of numerous energy, environmental and related publications.

He holds master's degrees in philosophy and environmental studies from UB, and has taught more than 25 college-level courses at the university, from ethics to alternate energy systems.

A long-standing environmentalist, Simpson advocates sustainable, or "green," building design for new campus construction, as well as for major, regional development projects.

He resides in Amherst.