Campus Conservation Efforts a Success
Thu., Apr 26
Southern recently finished the three-week Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) 2012, a nationwide electricity use reduction competition among colleges and universities. Southern saved a total of more than 76,000 kWh of electricity, resulting in financial savings and a reduction in CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Throughout the competition, students conserved energy in their residence halls, with a prize for the building that reduced use the most. North Campus Residence Hall was victorious, reducing electricity use more than 28% below the average two-week benchmarking period. All nine of the residence halls successfully lowered their electricity use during the competition. (Click on the image at right to download an enlarged version.)
Southern joined more than 100 schools nationwide in working toward a collective national savings of a million KWh. This goal was considered ambitious by the national event organizers. Competing schools quickly surpassed this goal, and by the finish of the contest, surpassed 1.7 million kWh nationwide. This savings represents more than 2.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide not emitted into the air.
Southern used Lucid's Building DashboardŽ, which allowed students to instantly compare performance, share winning strategies and track standings among the leading schools and buildings. With generous sponsorship from United Technologies Corp, founding sponsor of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC, Sloan, Sterling Planet and Constellation Energy and Carbonfund.org, CCN served as an opportunity to organize students and staff to make immediate and lasting impacts on Southern's carbon emissions and campus culture.
"During Campus Conservation Nationals 2012 hundreds of thousands of students in the United States took action to reduce electricity and water consumption in their buildings," said Andrew deCoriolis, Director of Engagement at Lucid. "The success of CCN demonstrates the tremendous collective impact that individual actions can have for reducing resource consumption and fostering a broader culture of conservation on campuses."
CCN offers valuable educational opportunities, such as enabling students to teach themselves conservation behaviors, as well as environmental and economic 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 competition, join the network or follow leading schools, visit www.CompeteToReduce.org.
CCN is organized by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council through its USGBC Students Program and in partnership with Lucid, Alliance to Save Energy and the National Wildlife Federation.
About U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building certification program, robust educational offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and affiliates, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council
The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is how USGBC is making sure every student has the opportunity to attend a green school within this generation. From the kindergartner entering the classroom, to the Ph.D. student performing research in a lab, the Center provides the resources and support to elevate dialogue, accelerate policy and institute innovation toward green schools and campuses. High-performing schools result in high-performing students, and the Center works directly with staff, teachers, faculty, students, administrators, elected officials and communities to drive the transformation of all schools into sustainable places to live and learn, work and play. www.centerforgreenschools.org
About Lucid
Lucid is a privately held cleantech software company and a pioneer in providing real-time feedback to teach, inspire behavior change, and save energy and water resources in buildings. Lucid's team endeavors to make resource use visible, accessible and engaging so that building occupants have the data visualization and communication tools to manage and reduce their consumption. Lucid's Building DashboardŽ technology drives CCN and enables competitions within and among campuses.
About Alliance to Save Energy
Alliance to Save Energy is a non-profit coalition of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders who support energy efficiency as a cost-effective energy resource and advocate energy efficiency policies that minimize costs and lessen emissions. To carry out its mission, ASE undertakes research, educational programs, and policy advocacy; designs and implements energy-efficiency projects; promotes technology development and deployment; builds public-private partnerships; and initiates collaborative efforts and strategic alliances.
About National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation is America's largest conservation organization. NWF works across the U.S. to protect and restore wildlife habitat, confront global warming and connect people with nature. NWF has a 20-year history of working with colleges and universities through its Campus Ecology program to improve their overall green educational programming and on-site sustainability. Its student outreach programs, campus consulting, technology competitions and educational events reach about 1,000 colleges each year.
