2 halls win energy challenge

Read Center and Eigenmann Hall have won the spring 2013 IU Energy Challenge, according to the Office of Sustainability.

The challenge took place from Feb. 18 to March 11, with 10 residence halls participating. A meter inside each building measured electricity and water use, Director of Sustainability Bill Brown said.

Read conserved the most electricity, and Eigenmann conserved the most water, according to a press release. The residence halls will receive special trophies made from recycled materials at a ceremony at 10 a.m. April 12 in Dunn Meadow.
 
“I appreciate that everyone took it seriously,” said Rebecca Hoke-McCall, the resident manager at Eigenmann. “I hope that the competition leads to establishing
good habits.”

According to the release, Read reduced electricity use by more than 13 percent, and Eigenmann reduced water use by more than 25 percent.

Junior Matthew Zelechowski, a resident assistant and adviser of sustainability for Eigenmann, said he promoted water conservation by creating a poster and
simply talking to other students. He said topics discussed included reusing water bottles, doing laundry less often and using less water when
brushing teeth.

“I was impressed with my students and happy that they stepped up to the challenge,” Zelechowski said. “Even though you don’t think you can do a lot, there’s a lot you can do.”

Brown said the Energy Challenge has occurred each spring since 2007. This year, the office began a fall challenge, which included academic buildings and
greek houses.

He said the fall contest was designed to encourage consistent conservation habits in and outside of the residence halls.

“It’s hard to test the persistence when everyone graduates or moves on,” he said. “What we’re seeing is that over time, those behavior changes are persistent.”

Brown said the spring challenge only included residence halls so that IU could compete in this year’s Campus Conservation Nationals, a nationwide energy conservation competition for residential campuses. 

“CCN gives a common voice and motivation to hundreds of thousands of
students, all working together to reduce consumption and mitigate the impacts of climate change,” according to the competition’s website.

Brown said the Office of Sustainability contacted the residence halls and their student leaders about the challenge. He said he encouraged these leaders to plan fun but educational activities about energy conservation, such as lights-out dance parties and movies in a common room.

“What this allows people to do is come together and work together,” he said. “People really seem to take an interest in winning.” 

The participating residence halls saved 81,565 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 698,728 gallons of water, according to the IU Building Dashboard, a website that promotes CCN and monitors the residence halls’ consumption habits during a day. The press release said the amount of electricity saved equals 113 houses off the grid, and the amount of water saved equals enough to fill 14 tanker trucks.

These savings prevented more than 150,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, according to the dashboard.

“I’m always amazed how much people can accomplish when they make small
changes,” Brown said. “By doing simple things and changing habits, people are able to have a significant impact.”

Zelechowski said he hopes the challenge inspires students to spread the word about conservation and continue exhibiting good energy-saving habits.

“We should do them because it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “The goal is not to win an award, the goal is to save the world from us.”