Competition among colleges reduces Rice’s carbon footprint
BY JESSICA JOHNS POOL Rice News Staff
During October the north group of colleges at Rice competed against the south group of residential colleges to see which could consume the least energy on a per-capita basis.
The results were analyzed late last week, and the south colleges were the winners, announced Richard Johnson, director of sustainability. (See the sidebar to learn how the students saved energy.)
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The south colleges consumed 429 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity per capita for the month, while the north colleges consumed 475 kwh of electricity per person. At 12 cents per kilowatt-hour, this translates into an October electricity bill of $51.48 per student for the south colleges and $57 per student for the north colleges.
“The north colleges were definitely catching up in the final couple of weeks of the competition and both groups showed improvement in week-to-week results as the competition wore on,” said Johnson. “I estimate the colleges collectively saved $15,000-$20,000 in energy and prevented 85 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere. That’s equivalent to Rice’s total carbon footprint for all of its operations for about half a day.”
With electrical meter readings provided by staff from the Central Plant, Johnson then applied a formula using historical data to account for building differences (older vs. newer, doors opening to the outside vs. interior) so that the colleges could compete on an even footing. Johnson then estimated the percentage savings in electrical use for the competition through comparisons with historical data and assumed that same percentage savings in chilled water (for cooling) and steam to arrive at a total energy savings.
“We felt that it was important to provide students with a way to personally engage in the issue of climate change and reduce their carbon footprint while having fun in the process. A dorm energy competition was a great way to do this,” said Johnson.
Contest goes campus-wide
The first energy competition at Rice was part of a broader sustainability competition between Wiess College and Martel College last fall, and support stoked during Orientation Week to take the contest campus-wide.
Ways energy was saved
Rice students showed creativity and diligence in finding ways to cut electricity in their buildings. Some of the actions taken:
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