Thursday, January 31, 2008

FAQs

Questions are organized categorically with questions about Battle of the Bulbs at the top, followed by questions about better ways to save energy, and then tips on saving energy at the bottom. If your question isn't answered here, please direct it to the Bulbs listhost.



Battle of the Bulbs

How are you keeping track of energy use?
We tabulate data weekly after it is provided to us by Chris Keating, the director of Residence Halls and Commons. Chris is getting his data directly from electricity meters at each building.


What are this year’s weekly reduction targets?
We plan on keeping the same reduction goals (5% for the first week, and 10, 15, and 20% for the second, third and fourth weeks) which work out to a monthlong reduction of 14%.


What about power outages?
While we cannot measure the impact of a power outage until the week is over, it is unlikely that power outages will have a significant impact on overall energy reduction. Contrary to popular belief, the Shoreland’s power outage in 2007 was not the main contributor to its amazing 4th week drop!
Remember: power outages should only encourage you to do your best to save energy! Energy reduction matters for the whole month, so even if a dorm has an exemplary week, it might not win (case in point: Shoreland).


What about ongoing construction?
Quote from Chris Keating, Director of Facilities & Business Operations for the Residence Halls & Commons:
"[E]ach residence hall has its own meters to measure electricity usage. Neither of the construction projects adjacent to those two buildings were connected to electric sources on the residence hall side of the meter. Therefore, no electricity consumed in those projects was reflected in our meter readings. The increases in BJ and SH usage from 07 to 08 were primarily a result of the telecommunications closets which were built in each of those buildings to support the infrastructure of the new telecom rewiring that was done. BJ had four closets built and SH had two. Each closet is air conditioned to keep the telecom equipment operating properly. Neither of these buildings had this type of infrastructure prior to Summer 07."


Are there any rules?
There are no rules except the standard rule about fair play, but there are weekly guidelines. Each week in February has a higher reduction target; and we outline the necessary steps you need to take to reduce your dormitory's electricity use by a further 5% for that week. Every week, we will post the electricity reduction target for each dorm and the weekly results on a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will be available on this website and on the information boards located in each of the dining halls, the Admin building, the Reg and the Reynolds Club.

Is energy use due to heat calculated along with energy use due to lights, electronics, appliances, etc.?
No. Heating in the dorms is provided by radiators, which are powered by steam, which is generated using natural gas. The energy meters only measure electricity use.

How many dorms participate? Which ones?
Ten dorms: Burton-Judson, Snell-Hitchcock, Blackstone, Breckinridge, Broadview, Maclean, Max P., Pierce, Shoreland, and—starting this year—Stony Island.


There’s a dining hall in my dorm—that uses energy too. That’s not fair!
Your dorm’s performance is rated using its own energy use during the last week of January as its baseline. The dining halls were in operation then as they are now.


How can I get my dining hall to reduce electricity use as well?
We’re in the process of talking to dining hall managers to see whether some lights can be turned off when unneeded (e.g. during the day), or whether other energy-conservation measures could be adopted. You can also to talk to your dining hall manager about it, but don’t be surprised if he/she refuses to raise the temperature in their refrigerators—that’s for safety reasons!

Are other campus buildings participating in this?
No, but we’re working on it.



Prizes

What does the winning dorm get this year?
The Green Cup (a truly awesome light-up trophy with light bulbs inside) and bragging rights for being 2009’s energy-saving champions! We’re also working on a local and/or organic food study break for the winning dorm.


What are the raffle prizes?
Sports stuff, goodies from Whole Foods, and more.



Better Energy Conservation

Can we transition to LEDs instead of CFLs?
Unfortunately, there is currently no initiative in Housing to replace existing electrical fixtures with LEDs, as it is costlier than simply using a CFL, which uses the same socket as the conventional lightbulb. However, such a consideration will be brought to the attention of Housing as construction on the new dorm continues.


I can't turn off the lights in my dorm’s halls , lounges, and/or stairwells. What do I do?
Talk to your building manager and ask him/her to alternate hallway lights and to turn off lounge lighting at night, if possible.


Doesn’t it waste more energy to turn lights and electronics on and off than to just leave them on, especially if you’re only going to be out of the room for a short time?
Turn out the lights if you are the last to leave a room, unless you are coming back within two minutes. Contrary to popular belief, turning lights on consumes no more electricity than they use when already lit. This is true for both fluorescent and incandescent bulbs.[1]

Can I recycle my CFLs?
Facilities does have a safe disposal program for fluorescent lights. We are currently checking to see if this also applies to CFLs.


How much energy does this ACTUALLY save, anyway? Is it enough to matter?
· In 2007, all dorms collectively managed to reduce their energy usage from Feb. 2006 by 8.7%, or 35 tons of carbon emissions.
· “The lessons learned from Battle of the Bulbs have a direct effect on students, said Christopher Keating, the director of residence halls and commons. Lower energy use would ultimately reduce the student housing fee.”[2]
· Assuming typical Chicago (ComEd) electricity costs fluctuate around 10 cents per kWh, in 2007 we saved the University about $5,500-$6,000 in one month.
· The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that about 5% of all residential energy consumption can be classified as “phantom power.” If Americans could prevent the loss of these 64 million megawatt hours of electricity, they would prevent a hundred billion pounds in carbon dioxide emissions every year.[3]



Energy-Saving Tips

What can I do to save energy?
· Turn out the lights when you leave a room
· Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which consume ¼ of the energy of a traditional bulb and lasts 10 times as long. If you live in a dorm that provides desk lamps in every room, the front desk should be able to give you CFLs for your lighting fixtures. If the front desk does not have CFLs, file a work order. Otherwise, the University of Chicago Environmental Center (UCEC) may be able to either give you a bulb, or at least direct you to a local retailer that sells them
· Keep your thermostat as low as possible.
· Tell someone. If you believe that a dorm or academic building is being consistently overheated, get in touch with someone from facilities or Residence Halls and Commons (RHC). RHC is generally happy to turn down the heat and save a little extra money
· Don't open windows in overheated rooms. File a work order or Contact facilities or RHC and ask them to reduce the heat (unfortunately, we can't count energy savings from reduced radiator usage because the University produces its own steam on-site to heat buildings and thus doesn’t track usage at each building with the same specificity that the electric companies charging the University for the electricity drawn from the grid do, but do it anyway! Go full steam!—pardon the pun).
· Share a fridge. Mini fridges consume a lot of energy and are generally not full.
· Turn off electronic devices (computers, printers, etc.) when not in use.
· Set computers to automatically enter sleep mode after about 15 minutes of inactivity.
· Unplug your cell phone, laptop, and iPod chargers when not in use. Many types of electronics draw energy as long as they're plugged in, even if they are supposedly "off."[4]
· Avoid using electronics that use high levels of energy, such as hair dryers.
· Wash your clothes in cold water. This also helps your clothes last longer.
· Hang dry your clothes, or dry your clothes halfway in the dryer and then hang dry them. This also extends the lifespan of your clothing!



Miscellaneous

How much are you selling your t-shirts for?
$10.

Why is this called the Battle of the Bulbs?
The primary way for students to save electricity in the dorm is to reduce lighting usage: that is, to keep as few light bulbs on for as little time as possible. Therefore, the most potent weapon in the battle is the light bulb, or avoidance thereof. The name was originally inspired by the fact that compact fluorescent bulbs are much more efficient and longer-lasting than incandescent light bulbs—we thought that pitting something energy-saving against the energy-guzzling would be a fun symbol for the competition.

What do you think about that Maroon article that guy wrote a few days ago? I think I might agree with him.
Ha! Ha! Ha! (Actually, we also published a response in the Maroon. It's here.)

[1] Grist: Environmental News and Commentary
[2] “Dorms slash energy use for Battle of the Bulbs.” 6 Mar. 2007. The Maroon.
[3] See http://www.carbonrally.com/challenges/10.
[4] Green Guide to the University of Chicago

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Kickoff Event--Thursday!

The BoB kickoff will be taking place this Thursday, January 31 in the McCormick Lounge (1st floor of the Reynolds Club) at 8 p.m. Come for snacks and information (particularly energy-saving tips) on the Battle of the Bulbs!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Last Year's Winner

In February 2007, BJ won, with an overall 20% electricity reduction over the course of the month!

The dorm with the highest participation rate was Breckenridge with 66% pledged residents.

Shoreland won the prize for effort by reducing its energy use 45% in the last week of the competition (its overall reduction was 15%).

Overall, the dorms collectively saved 69,240 lbs of carbon from entering the atmosphere. Well done!