Last modified: Friday, March 1, 2013
Eigenmann, Read lead IU Energy Challenge at midpoint
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 1, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The spring 2013 Indiana University Energy Challenge at IU Bloomington has reached the mid-point, and the results are showing an overall savings for both electricity and water usage.
So far, the 10 residence centers competing have saved a total of 95,042 gallons of water and 8,615 kilowatt-hours of electricity. In the water competition, Eigenmann is leading the field with a 22 percent reduction from its average, followed by Briscoe and Teter. For the electricity competition, Read is in the lead with a 23 percent reduction in consumption, with Teter and Ashton rounding out the top three.
Access to utility information and competition standings are provided through a Campus Conservation Nationals dashboard, which will be projected over the digital displays in the residence centers. The dashboard will show standings among the 10 residence centers competing and will be updated three times a week for electricity and water consumption.
"Personal energy usage is something most people never consider," said Andrew Bushnell, utilities and conservation intern at the IU Office of Sustainability. "The goal of the Energy Challenge is to get people to look at how their daily choices affect energy consumption, and then to get them to modify that behavior to reduce the amount of energy they consume. We hope then that a more energy conscious attitude on campus will carry over even after the competition has ended."
This year, the IU Energy Challenge is part of a nationwide competition called Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN), the nation's largest electricity and water consumption competition for colleges and universities. During the 2012 competition, more than 208,000 students at over 100 colleges and universities saved about 1.7 megawatt-hours of electricity and 1.5 million gallons of water. This equates to avoiding 2.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and saving 10,300 hours worth of showers. The 2013 competition hopes to continue this success and increase the savings from last year.
"The Energy Challenge team strives to improve peer-to-peer education networks and give effective and timely feedback on building performance to enhance conservation behavior change," said Bill Brown, director of sustainability. "It's great to see students having fun with the competition as well."
The Energy Challenge will run until March 11 and a winner will be declared after spring break. For more information about the competition, graphics displaying emerging results and tips for conserving energy and water, visit the IU Energy Challenge website.
