For the first year, the Office of Sustainability is hosting a competition to get students to use less energy on campus.

The contest is broken down into 5 different portions of campus.  A weekly winner is determined in each portion of campus, and a campus winner is determined from the weekly winners.  The dorms with the largest decrease in the amount of energy used are the winners. 

According to David Dean, Office of Sustainability Outreach Coordinator, student response has been positive, so far.

“Being that this is the first time such a competition has been attempted at N.C. State, the student response has been very positive,” Dean said.  “When students learn that N.C. State’s electric bill averages $20 million a year, they immediately understand the need to conserve energy.”

A large consumer of electricity is phantom loads which, according to Dean, are something students have a lot of control over.

“One reason we are targeting on campus residents is they have a lot of control over their energy use,” Dean said.  “The quickest way to reduce phantom load is to hook your appliances, including cell phones, fans and microwaves, up to a power strip then turning it off when leaving the room.  Hitting the switch on your power strip should be as natural as turning off the lights when you leave the room.”

According to Dean, this competition will continue into the spring semester.

“As for the competition, we are going to regroup with University Housing, IRC and other key partners in December and look at the lessons learned from the past two months.  Then, we will implement those changes and continue the competition in the spring semester,” Dean said.

The goal, according to Dean, is for the program to expand.

“The idea is for the competition to spread to all the residence halls and become a new tradition at N.C. State,” Dean said.  “To sustain the mission of N.C. State, we must become leaders in energy conservation.

In the future, Dean said he thinks this will be beneficial to the University and students.

“In the long-term, I think everyone understands energy and water costs are not going to be getting an cheaper and we should all start developing good habits that help us leave a positive impact at N.C. State,” Dean said.  “Plus, electricity accounts for roughly 53 percent of N.C. State’s total greenhouse gas emissions.  If you ‘hit the switch’ and ‘pull the plug’ you are helping to create a cleaner environment for future generations.”