Bowdoin's Third Annual Energy Conservation Dorm Competition starts today! "Phenomenal prizes," to be unveiled in mid-October, will be awarded to dorms and social houses that conserve the most energy during the month-long competition.
Winners will be determined by comparing the October 2004 energy use by individual dorms to energy use during another "secretly monitored" month. The winning dorm and dorm-social house combo will be announced at the beginning of November.
By extending this year's competition to an entire month, Sustainable Bowdoin hopes to encourage the Bowdoin Community to adopt?and continue?the everyday energy conservation habits that can reduce College energy expenditures and our environmental impacts.
In the two-week 2002 dorm energy competition alone, participating residences saved enough kilowatt-hours of electricity to power an average private household for an entire year! The electricity savings from the 2002 competition also reduced carbon dioxide emissions from the campus by 2,741.21 pounds?a reduction equivalent to the effect of planting hundreds of trees.
Last year's overall winner was Coleman Hall, with an impressive (but replicable!) energy reduction of 47 percent! Coleman and MacMillan took the winning freshman dorm-social house combo for the second straight year with a combined energy reduction of 38 percent.
As these folks will tell you, simple little changes really do add up?especially if everyone in your building pitches in! Conserving energy is as easy as turning off your lights, stereo, and TV when you leave a room, shutting off your computer when it's not in use, cutting back on unnecessary appliances, and taking shorter showers.
Remember that appliances like printers and TVs use energy even when they are shut off. Unplugging these items will prevent unnecessary energy consumption. Replacing incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs is another great way to conserve energy.
Finally, fall break is fast approaching! Before you leave campus, remember to close your windows, turn off your computer and lights, and unplug your appliances (careful of that fridge, though...).
Also, please keep these rules in mind:
Students cannot remove any fluorescent bulbs from hallways or bathrooms. While fluorescent light tubes save a lot of energy compared to incandescent bulbs, they contain mercury dust and are classified as Universal Hazardous Waste once they are spent or broken. The College is required to follow strict protocols when changing, storing and recycling these lights.
All lights in areas of egress must be kept on. According to National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code 101, Bowdoin must require adequate lighting in hallways, stairwells, foyers, etc. for emergency/fire purposes. Don't tamper with key access Bowdoin safety lightss. These lights are left on to allow people to exit buildings quickly and safely in the event of an emergency. If you have questions or concerns about safety code issues in your dorm, please contact Meg Boyle '05 (x5431 and mboyle2@bowdoin.edu).
Students that violate these rules or otherwise compromise the spirit of the competition will risk the disqualification of their entire dorm! So please play fair, and help keep the competition friendly and honest.
Buildings participating in the competition include Coleman, Burnett, Howell, Maine, Winthrop, Hyde, Moore, MacMillan, Helmreich, Appleton, Baxter, Stowe Hall, Coles Tower, Boody, Howard, Ladd, Quinby, Chamberlain, and Stowe Inn.
Special thanks to Cleve Knowles and the entire Electric Shop staff in Facilities Management for helping us measure the energy use of all the dorms and social houses, and for all that they do to make Bowdoin's electricity use more efficient!
The dorm energy competition also has the support of the Eco-Reps, the Sustainable Bowdoin Student Energy Committee, the Office for a Sustainable Bowdoin, and Katie Powers (kpowers), Nate Underwood (junderwo), and Meg Boyle (mboyle2), students of Prof. Joe Bandy's Environmental Sociology.
Please don't hesitate to contact Student Sustainability Assistant Meg Boyle '05 with questions about the competition, energy conservation tips, etc. She can be reached at x5431 and mboyle2@bowdoin.edu
On your mark...
Get set...
DO IT IN THE DARK!