IU contest fosters sustainability

A new competition is tapping the knowledge and ingenuity of IU students.

The IU Student Association, co-sponsored by University Information Technology Services and the IU Office of Sustainability, has launched a campus-wide contest to make IU’s computing more sustainable.

Students will be challenged to create “a tool, system, or process that aids students, facilities and staff in living and working sustainability on campus through sustainable computing,” according to the competition handbook.

By doing so, more resources could be saved, lessening waste and directing energy toward other academic initiatives, thus benefiting IU, according to the handbook.

“IUSA is supported by the student body. IU is about education. Why not invest in an educational opportunity to solve a campus sustainability problem?” said Ellen Spurgeon, chief and director of sustainability for IUSA. She will lead IUSA’s involvement in the competition.

Initially an idea of the reviveIU platform during campaign season last spring, the Big Six administration was interested in implementing a program, created by Netherlands-based company Ecofont, on campus for a number of reasons — namely price and a potential for sustainability benefits.

The program was offered to IU at a significantly reduced cost and promised to save IU up to 25 percent on ink and toner, Spurgeon said.

However, after looking into the program this summer, IUSA and UITS discovered the program would work only on the Windows operating system and print only Microsoft Word documents — which is only a small portion of printing on campus.

From that disappointment came the case competition, which IUSA members hope will carry on the sustainability spirit of the initial plan. The organization will redirect funds budgeted for the Ecofont initiative and apply them toward rewards for successful groups.

The case competition calls on both undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines to work in groups of two to five to create a solution addressing at least one of three related areas under the umbrella of sustainable computing.

The first category concerns reducing the environmental impact of IT at IU. This primarily entails lessening print and paper use.

Considering IU goes through more than 160 million sheets of paper yearly, according to the competition’s press release, a reduction could lead to both campus and environmental waste reduction.

A second topic, leveraging IT for campus-wide sustainability gains, would aim for increased sustainability using infrastructure already in place.

A potential project, for example, could focus on reducing campus computer energy consumption.

The last area covers capturing and presenting metrics about campus sustainability. Projects that address this issue would construct methods to show students on campus how much energy they are using.

A display that monitors electric, water and paper usage installed in school buildings, for example, would visually remind students of their consumption and perhaps motivate them to change their ways, according to the handbook. Such monitoring would also help IU better manage its resources.

Regardless of which category the team chooses to address, technology will play a substantial role. UITS, the co-sponsor, will act as a resource to teams during the competition and help implement the winning idea after the competition concludes.
Susan Coleman Morse, project manager with the UITS Communication Office, said she helped IUSA and Office of Sustainability construct the competition.

“When Ellen proposed this, we saw it as a great way to continue the partnership between UITS and student leadership,” Morse said.

UITS will field groups’ questions regarding IU’s infrastructure and resources and help assess the likelihood of the proposal’s implementation.

“UITS is looking forward to partnering with IUSA and the sustainable IT working group to leverage technology that will support sustainable practices at IU,” Morse said.

By being partners with UITS and the Office of Sustainability, IUSA will ensure the winning idea becomes a reality — despite its one-year term, Spurgeon said.

Coleman Morse, Spurgeon and Bill Brown, IU director of sustainability, spoke at Monday’s callout meeting, where approximately 10 groups indicated interest in participating. The callout marked the first day of the first round, which runs until Oct. 10.

The competitors have until then to develop a video and paper that pitches their product ideas and provides a rough game plan for creating the product.

A judging panel made up of IU staff, faculty and IUSA members will then narrow the field to three teams, each of which will receive $500. They will base their decisions on feasibility of implementation and general quality of the product, Spurgeon said.

Round two will take place from Oct. 13 to Nov. 7, during which time groups will gather student surveys, develop prototypes and create an implementation timeline. They will also be required to make a presentation and answer questions from the judging panel. The case competition will conclude Nov. 11 with an awards ceremony, where the winners will take home $1,500 and the ability to implement their idea. Second place will receive $750.

Spurgeon has helped bring the competition from planning stages made in the spring to full implementation, she said. Spurgeon also said she is not worried about the success of the competition — she has faith in the ability of IU students, she said.

“We’re pretty confident with the groups we’ve been reaching out to,” she said. “We expect a great product out of this. We wouldn’t be rewarding a product that we didn’t think is quality.”