Student Energy Competition
From Ecologic
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RENSSELAER
Student Energy Competition
Concepts - Office of E*ntrepreneurship
Rob Chernow 7/08
Contents |
[edit] Objectives
- Engage students in identifying and implementing energy-saving actions to reduce their own carbon footprint on the Rensselaer campus;
- Develop a concerted effort to roll out major ideas across campus.
[edit] Strategies
- Stage a campus-wide student competition to increase awareness and generate active participation;
- Incent students to participate with educational information, a spirit of competition and tangible rewards/prizes for the most effective ideas;
- Establish clearly-defined criteria (see criteria section below) to focus student ideas on specific areas where they can have direct impact, such as:
- Residential/residence hall life
- Changing personal consumption behaviors
- Use of campus facilities/resources
- Etc.
- Identify and engage "influential" students to muster grass roots support;
- Publicize ongoing activities and winners:
- Web
- Blog
- Press
- Stickers for light switches, computers, equipment, etc.;
- "Footprints" adhere to walkways with message reminders:
- How Green is Red?
- Green is the new Red.
- Let's go Red! Let's go Green!
- Shrink your Campus Footprint.
- How green is your footprint?
- Red is going Green.
- Are you taking steps to go green?
[edit] The Challenge
- Create a bold statement/theme to build a sense of urgency and importance:
- Campus Green Challenge
- Campus Footprint Challenge
- Rensselaer Student Eco-Challenge
- Green Student Campus Challenge
- Stop Campus Warming Challenge
All themes would be reinforced with the question: What Can YOU do?!
[edit] Who competes?
- Any student is eligible to submit ideas;
- Perhaps set up the competition by schools, departments, class groups, curriculums to heighten the competitive spirit beyond individuals;
- Encourage student teams;
- Provide every student with a Wallet Card that highlights key Challenge messages, but also includes a space where they can write in their own personal commitment to how they will "green up".
[edit] Judging
- Establish a panel of qualified student, faculty, and facilities people who can make informed judgments on idea feasibility and potential impacts;
- Run contest and judging each semester. (Or should it be conducted more frequently to keep interest building?).
[edit] Criteria
- Focused on student-specific activities/behaviors;
- Provide students with information/data on their current footprint/impacts to set benchmarks;
- Ideas must be implementable (50 points) and winning suggestions will be based on innovation (25 points) and scalability (25 points);
- Also provide students with basic facts to understand impact of popular/common energy-saving actions, such as:
- Adjusting thermostat temp one degree results in savings of 4-5% on energy bill;
- 5 minutes less in the shower can save up to 10 gallons of water;
- Washing clothes in cold water can save up to $40 per year;
- Doors and windows that are sealed/weatherstripped can save 5-10% of annual heating and cooling costs;
- An average student's behavior releases about 50 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere;
- 90% of the electricity in an incandescent bulb is wasted as heat;
- The average American consumes 6 times more energy than the world average;
- Create an online quiz where students can check their own awareness of energy consumption and savings;
- A student can calculate their personal ecological footprint at: http://www.myfootprint.org/en/
