Energy bowl extends
deadline, efforts

// news / daily - march 6, 2006

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=19709&repository=0001_article
written by Kat Lewin

Despite the recent cold weather, Students for a Sustainable Stanford hope that their peers will turn off the heat and don sweaters until the end of the quarter. The Second Annual Great Energy Bowl and Water Derby has been extended through March 20, giving participants almost three extra weeks to do their part to conserve water and energy.

According to event organizers, there was a practical reason for extending the deadline change.

“The deadline had to be extended because the energy and water meter readings will come out later than we had anticipated,” said senior Greg Holburd. “Originally, we had planned on giving mid-way results around the first week of February but the readings weren’t available until mid-February. Similarly the next available reading will be March 20, which is now the end of the competition.”

However, group members acknowledged that increasing the duration of the Energy Bowl and Water Derby would also yield greater conservation.

“The longer we can keep people motivated to conserve water and energy, the better,” said sophomore Nastassia Patin. “I’m extremely happy about the extension because now there’s more opportunity to publicize the event and raise awareness.”

Official mid-competition standings are posted on the Students for a Sustainable Stanford Web site. Members said they are happy with the results so far. The competition spans all undergraduate residences, and is divided into two categories — dorms and houses.

Branner and Stern are tied for first place for dorms, each having decreased combined water and energy usage 33 percent from this time last year. Freshman/Sophomore College is in second place, with a decrease of 26 percent, according to an email sent by Patin to The Daily.

The decision to extend the Energy Bowl to houses as well as dorms is a change from last year, and Sustainable President and event coordinator Emma Yuen said she was pleased with the addition. Yost and Murray currently hold first place in the category with “an incredible 46 percent decrease.” Theta Delta Chi and Synergy are in second and third place, with decreases of 30 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

These numbers represent a significant increase in overall conservation over last year — when the competition was much less expansive, said Energy Management and Building Renewal Program Coordinator Larry Hoffman.

“We are expecting to achieve a much greater savings in electricity and water for this year compared to last year since we have expanded the competition to all undergraduate dorms and houses,” Hoffman said.

Yuen estimated that the campus has, on average, shown a 10 percent decrease in energy use and 15 percent decrease in water consumption from this time last year. A few residences, such as Mirrielees, Kimball and Roth, have increased their energy and water consumption over last year, but some Sustainable group members said they are still encouraged by the overall results.

“There are only a few dorms and houses in total that have increased energy and water use, but only by a few percentage points, so that is promising as well,” Hulburd said. “It seems that the competition has inspired conservation and wiser resource choices which is the main objective of the Energy Bowl and Water Derby. I think that this competition has definitely helped bring the issue of campus sustainability to students’ attention.”

One way that Students for a Sustainable Stanford has attempted to raise awareness among students is through the competition’s prizes. According to Yuen, all residents of the winning residence in each category will win T-shirts. In addition, the two winning residences will have energy-saving technology, like solar panels or low-flow toilets, installed in their houses, courtesy of Student Housing. However, Yuen said the expense of fitting houses with water- and energy-efficient technology is balanced out by the money saved by the competition.

“The Energy Bowl actually saves so much in energy and water reduction that it saves housing money,” she said. “Last year, Student Housing saved around $2,500 in water and energy costs, and that was just for a few houses, so that’s how we can afford such nice prizes. The environmental technology is also a great incentive for people who already care about the environment: if they conserve a lot this year, they’ll receive tools to make it easier to conserve in future.”

The competition ends on March 20. Mid-competition standings are posted online at http://www.sustainability.stanford.edu/energybowl2006.html