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Last modified: Friday, May 10, 2013

IU Bloomington among leaders in Campus Conservation Nationals 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2013

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington ranked among the top five schools in the country for water conservation in Campus Conservation Nationals 2013, a nationwide electricity and water reduction competition among colleges and universities.

Top schools for water reduction, in addition to IU Bloomington, were Northwestern, Oberlin, Cal Poly Pomona and Wake Forest. Leaders in electricity reduction were Oregon State, Harvey Mudd, St. John's, North Carolina and Northwest Missouri State.

"It's no surprise to me that IU Bloomington students excel in Campus Conservation Nationals," said Bill Brown, IU Bloomington director of sustainability. "We run Energy Challenges twice a year, and our students have proven their ability to compete to conserve. Having fun saving resources together is part of our campus culture."

In total, the national competition reduced water usage by 1,681,241 gallons -- the equivalent of 11,208 shower-hours or 10,759,945 plastic water bottles. It reduced electricity consumption by 2,114,844 kilowatt hours, the savings that would result from taking 187 homes off the grid for a year.

In both categories, the results surpassed the savings goals for the competition: 1 million gallons of water and 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

"When you see a tangible mobilization of students this large reducing energy consumption, promoting sustainability and actively mitigating the effects of climate change, it is clear our generation is ready for change and no longer willing to wait for decision-makers to address the issues at hand," said Hannah Debelius, student program lead with the U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools.

This is the second year of taking part in Campus Conservation Nationals for IU Bloomington, where students living in 10 residence halls competed from Feb. 18 to March 11.

IU Bloomington students reduced water usage by 698,728 gallons, accounting for more than 40 percent of the total national water savings. That's equal to 140 tanker trucks of water. The campus reduced electricity usage by 81,565 kilowatt hours, the equivalent of taking 113 houses off the grid for the duration of the competition. These savings helped avert 152,626 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Eigenmann Residence Center placed first in water conservation and Read Center was first in electricity savings.

Campus Conservation Nationals are organized for the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council in partnership with Lucid, Alliance to Save Energy and the National Wildlife Federation. About 300,000 students from 120 colleges and universities took part in the competition.

The competition offers valuable educational opportunities, such as enabling students to teach themselves conservation behaviors, as well as environmental and economic benefits. Above all, it is designed to empower the future generation of energy and environmental leaders and foster a culture of conservation within campus communities.