Kill-A-Watt Challenge

Res Hall Electricity Reduction Challenge

Each year, Champlain College residential halls compete to reduce electricity usage. The winner of the competition is determined by the hall that has the largest percentage reduction of electricity over baseline consumption as well as the highest rate of participation in various events on campus and within the residence halls. The aim of this competition is to raise student awareness regarding electricity conservation and related behaviors in Champlain College residence halls - a skill that students will carry with them wherever they live in the future. The Challenge is a collaborative project between Sustain Champlain and Residential Life.

2012 Challenge Dates: February 6-March 4

Who's Winning? Check out the scores, updated each Monday of the Challenge

How is the winner calculated?

Since Champlain College residence halls were built at different times and with different technologies and attract different types of residents, each has a different baseline resource use efficiency. For example some have more efficient hallway lighting, some use more or less electricity in their mechanical systems, etc. Typical student behavior also differs by residence hall; some res halls may be more social and students spend more of their time in these buildings. Students in some residence halls are also more conservation minded then students in others. To adjust for both inherent technological efficiency and for the behavioral efficiency of the current inhabitants, each building will be compared to its usage the year before. The res hall that consumes the greatest percentage of reduction in electricity usage during the competition relative to its baseline consumption will be awarded points that will contribute to their overall score. This approach to competing adjusts for differences in the inherent efficiency of each building and the past performance of current residents in each res hall.

The winning hall will be awarded $500 to spend (decided by res hall): pizza party, ice cream party, energy efficient appliance for building, etc. In the case of a tie, the prize money will be split between buildings.

Continue to: 2012 Events & Activities || Strategies for Success || Campus Energy Use and the Environment

2012 Winners:

ROWELL HALL! There were stories of “Dark Rowell”, and it seems like their efforts really paid off.  A combination of 36% energy savings, bulletin boards, movie night and folks coming to the LEAD Common Ground on energy, Rowell racked up their points.

All told, we saw an average of 9% energy savings across all of our main campus buildings. For a detailed look at the results, see the Kill-A-Watt Challenge blog. Using a simplified formula (with a base of $.10/kwh) we figured that we saved over $2,600 of electricity during February (for main campus res halls).

2011 Winners:

For a number of reasons, we decided that it was best to break the award winnings into two categories: a) greatest overall reduction in electrical consumption and b) greatest overall RA participation for programming. To that end, we are happy to announce this year's winners:

• Greatest electrical use reduction: North House (RA Monique Prevost) 
• Greatest RA programming participation: Mary Hughes, Carriage House

Similar competitions have become increasingly popular on other campuses. A few excellent examples include:

Oberlin College
Skidmore College
Bowdoin College
Campus Conservation Nationals