Students will compete to reduce energy consumption on their campus

 

AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Texas at Austin is announcing their participation in Campus Conservation Nationals 2012, a nationwide electricity and water use reduction competition among colleges and universities created by The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council through its Students Program and in partnership with Lucid, Alliance to Save Energy and the National Wildlife Federation. Between Feb. 6 and April 23, 2012, students at UT and across the country will compete to achieve the greatest reductions in their residence halls over a three-week period.

 

The university wide CCN competition, The Power of One, will be held from April 1- 21, 2012. The 14 residence halls on campus will be competing against each other to reduce energy by the largest percentage. The winning residence hall will receive $2,000 to be used for an end of the year celebration and other needs for the hall. There will be tabling events in the dining halls throughout the competition, as well as promotional t-shirt giveaways.

 

“The Division of Housing and Food Service (DHFS) has been working hard for many years to reduce energy use in our residence halls. Energy efficient lighting, Energy Star rated equipment, efficient compressor systems and updated HVAC units are some of the many initiatives DHFS has implemented to decrease energy usage in the halls. Other initiatives, such as occupancy sensors reduce demand for electricity when not needed. This competition is a great way to reduce demand side energy consumption by educating the students on how to reduce their energy usage in the residence halls in a fun and competitive way,” said Meagan Jones, DHFS Environmental Specialist.

 

UT joins the ranks of more than 100 universities and colleges nationwide that are currently registered for this program. In this competition, participating schools can choose to compete against buildings on their own campus, or against a select group of peer institutions, with savings from all participants accumulating to reach a national challenge goal of one gigawatt-hour. Using Lucid’s Building Dashboard®, participating schools will be able to instantly compare performance, share winning strategies and track standings among the leading schools and buildings. CCN is an opportunity to organize students and staff to make immediate and lasting impacts on a school’s carbon emissions and campus culture.

“Campus Conservation Nationals encourages students to recognize the significant impact that sustainable behaviors can have on a campus and in a community,” said Pat Lane, USGBC Students program lead at the Center for Green Schools. “This will be the largest national competition of its kind and will have far reaching impact showing students that a collective effort, along with a desire to better the built environment can lead to positive and lasting change.”

 

“We think that feedback on electricity and water consumption, combined with competitive spirit and incentives, can significantly reduce resource usage in campus buildings,” said Andrew deCoriolis, director of public programs at Lucid. “We hope that this program serves as a model for other universities to become more aware of how they are using their buildings.” CCN offers valuable educational opportunities, such as enabling students to teach themselves conservation behaviors, as well as environmental and economical benefits. Above all, CCN is designed to empower the future generation of energy and environmental leaders, and foster a culture of conservation within campus communities. To learn more about the CCN competition, visit www.CompeteToReduce.org. To track UT residence hall energy usage and commit to reduce energy, visit http://buildingdashboard.net/utexas.