Kelley, Theta, Briscoe take energy crown

The Kelley School of Business, Briscoe Quad and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority emerged as winners of the 2011 Spring Energy Challenge that ended last week.

The four-week challenge is designed to reduce energy and water consumption compared to consumption from the past three years and encourage students, faculty and staff to change their behavior, Energy Challenge coordinator Will McHenry said.

“We want to give students, faculty and staff the chance to see how much energy they are using,” McHenry said. “Because they don’t usually get the bill, we want to give more transparency and make everyone more responsible.”

This is the fourth Spring Energy Challenge. Participation included all 12 residence halls, 17 academic buildings and 17 greek houses.

“We wanted students, faculty and staff to make more sustainable living and office behaviors,” McHenry said. “We want them to take what they learned and implement it beyond college.”

A study was conducted to see if the Energy Challenge affected behavior in these buildings year-round. Measurements were taken in November after the challenge, and almost all the buildings used less energy than expected, McHenry said.

“In some cases, they were saving even more in November than during the Energy Challenge,” he said.

Total savings from all the buildings involved in the challenge amounted to 317,000 kWh of electricity. Water savings were not realized due to newly calculated baselines.

First place residence hall, Briscoe, consumed 15 percent below its expected
baseline.

The Kelley School of Business earned first place among the academic buildings, consuming 24.1 percent below its baseline.

Kappa Alpha Theta, the top greek house in the challenge, consumed 23.5 percent below its expected baseline.

The Energy Challenge is expected to expand to even more buildings in the future and possibly collaborate with Purdue University, McHenry said.

“The Energy Challenge was really well-received, and people are saving even more and more than before,” he said. “They clearly have an invested interested in conservation.”