It's the first ever semi-annual Electricity/Water Reduction Competition between the Quad Residence Halls!
What is it?
It's fun! It's good for the campus! It's good for the Earth!
From October 15th until November 25th, Alumni, Lyons, Ryan and Joyce Hall residents will be engaged in a competition to reduce their building's per capita electricity and water consumption.
How does it work (the nitty-gritty details)?
-Over a six-week period, residents will compete as a residence hall to reduce their per capita (per resident) electricity and water consumption compared to their building's historical average use (the Sustainability Coordinator has been looking at historical water and electricity consumption from 2000-present and has been taking weekly readings from mid-September up to the competition to get a sense of what current residents are using on average).
-The Sustainability Coordinator will track each building's (Alumni, Ryan, Joyce and Lyons) electricity and water usage throughout the event and provide periodic updates on the Competitions webpage and also to the RAs and RDs of the participating Residence Halls.
-Results will be reported in terms of percent change (i.e.: you want a negative score). Each element (electricity and water) will be scored separately. Each building will compete against its OWN past usage. In this way, the building's overall efficiency (or inefficiency), which is affected by thigns that the residents have no control over such as building structure or age, has been factored into this equation and will NOT give one building an advantage over another. Since the number of residents in each residence hall vary from year to year, the final amounts of electricity and water consumed will be calculated on a per capita basis.
-Residents are expected to act fairly and with respect towards each other and toward those in other halls. Inappropriate behavior may result in a building being disqualified from the competition.
Why should you (the residents) participate?
-Other than the fact that it's good for the enviroment, there are a few great incentives!
-The Residence Hall that can reduce its per capita eletricty and water consumption will win:
--Grand Prize: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Party!
--the Competition Trophy that will be displayed in the hall until the end of the next competition
--BRAGGING RIGHTS!
-All participants of the competing Residence Halls will receive complementary Peace of Mind for helping reduce Saint Michael's College impact on the Earth and keeping the electricty and water bills down.
-The winner will be announced the first week of December (exact day/time/location of announcement will be determined as it gets closer)
Competition Tips
Below are just a few helpful tips to help you reduce your electricity and water consumption, your RAs should provide you with more helpful tips. Also feel free to get help from the Sustainability Coordinator about ways to reduce your impact on the Earth.
Electricity
-Turn off all lights when you leave a room (if you notice a light on in the lounge or laundry room, turn it off)
-Unplug appliances that you are not using (this eliminates the phantom load, it does add up!)
-If you Hall has a computer lab in it, make sure the computers are turned off if no one is using them
-Open up your curtains and use the sun light (or go outside, do work in the library where the lights are already on and being used by multiple people)
-Do you have CFL bulbs?
-Have a homework/study session in the lounge (everyone sharing the same light!)
Water
-Turn off the water while you brush your teeth
-Make sure you have a full load when doing laundry
-Take shorter showers
-Don't leave the water running while you wash dishes
-Report any leaky faucets/showerheads
Similar Competitions at other Colleges and Universities
UNH -- http://www.unh.edu/etf/challenge.html
UNC -- http://www.fac.unc.edu/wastereduction/greengames/student.asp
UNC Asheville -- http://orgs.unca.edu/ecology/greengames/
Week 3 Current Standings
Water Usage:
All Halls are STILL in last place (water usage has increased in Alumni, Joyce, Lyons and Ryan Hall over the past two weeks....YIKES!)
Electricity Usage:
1st--> Ryan Hall (-6.5%)
2nd--> Lyons Hall (-6.1%)
3rd--> Joyce (-3.4%)
4th--> Alumni (-1.1%)
Week 2 Current Standings
Water Usage:
All Halls are in last place (water usage has increased in Alumni, Joyce, Lyons and Ryan Hall over the past two weeks....YIKES!)
Electricity Usage:
1st --> Ryan Hall (-7.6%)
2nd --> Lyons Hall (-6.5%)
3rd --> Joyce Hall (-5.7%)
4th --> Alumni Hall (-3.3%)