Sustainability

DePauw Campus Energy Wars

Overview:
Energy Wars is a competition to reduce resource consumption between living units at DePauw University.  The goals of the competition are to increase resource awareness, reduce DePauw’s carbon dioxide and resource footprint, encourage creativity in resource-saving solutions, and build community sustainability.

Students working with DePauw Facilities Management compile measurements of electricity, water, and natural gas consumption by specific living units, adjust for the number of residents, and rank living units according to the percent reduced compared to historical baselines.  Since the competition is based on reductions instead of total consumption, residents with less efficient facilities are not unfairly disadvantaged.  Furthermore, the competition encourages students to focus on what they are immediately empowered to change—their own behavior.

Spring 2008 - Pilot Contest in Residence Halls:
In April ‘08, Taylor Cantril, Maggie Baber, and Anthony Baratta worked with DePauw Environmental Club (DEC) and Facilities Management to organize a month-long competition between Lucy Rowland, Bishop Roberts, Mason, and Longden Residence Halls.  Every week, DEC members updated posters in living spaces, wrote Letters to the Editor for The DePauw, and sent e-mails to residents reporting units of water and electricity consumed by each hall.

The winning hall, Mason, saved 35% in water and 18% in electricity compared to April ’07.  Mason residents were given custom t-shirts funded by DEC and Residence Life.  Contest-wide averages—20% in electricity and 25% in water—were outstanding.  In total, $1200 of electricity and 212,000 gallons of water were saved between the four halls.

Fall 2008 - Integrating All Residence Halls and the Greek Community
During the Fall ’08 semester, the contest will expand both in length and in participants.  The contest will last all semester and will include as many as all ten university-owned residence halls in addition to all willing Greek houses.  Greek participation is voluntary, but strongly encouraged.  Taylor Cantril, Maggie Baber, and Missy! Orr have worked with university staff and other students to prepare for this potential tripling of participants during a summer internship through DePauw Sustainability Programs.

Fall 2008 - Utility Reporting and Feedback System
For residence halls, a team of students and Physical Plant employees will be checking water and electricity meters each week.  Since Greek houses are not centrally monitored, a dedicated representative of each house will deliver electricity, water, and natural gas measurements—as recorded on monthly utility bills—to the student compiling team.  Greek representatives will also calculate a historical baseline of per capita consumption for their house from past utility records.  Similar calculations will be completed for residence halls.

Rankings and percent reductions of all living units will be published in various media including the Energy Wars website, periodic e-mails, posters in campus spaces, and The DePauw.

Questions for the organizers?
Contact Campus Sustainability Intern Taylor Cantril or DEC Organizer Maggie Baber.