"Power strip" sparks competition

Author: Tim O'Grady

"Power Strip: How Much Can You Take Off" is an ongoing competition, run by the Sustainability Integration Office, to encourage students to minimize their daily electricity usage. Five teams of five students track their normal energy use for one week using a Kill-a-Watt meter, then attempt to limit the amount of electricity they consume the following week by using their electronics more sustainably. The team that conserves the greatest total electricity and the team that has the biggest percentage reduction in electricity by the end of the round are rewarded with gift cards to support Kiva, an online micro-finance organization that supports entrepreneurs worldwide.

This competition was initiated by the Sustainability Integration Office, with support from an Environmental Council grant, as an energy conservation project that quantifies how much electricity is consumed everyday by individuals.

"We were looking for a way to engage the whole community. We wanted to give people an idea of how much energy they consume on a daily basis," said Katie Scott, Sustainability Communications Outreach Coordinator.

Each group is given a power strip kit which has all of the tools necessary to compete, including a Kill-a-Watt meter that plugs directly into an outlet to measure the amount of electricity that passes through it. The meter shows the number of watts a device is consuming at a single moment, as well as the amount of electricity that is being consumed over time, measured in kilowatt-hours.

A Smart Strip power strip is also included which plugs into the outlet with the Kill-a-Watt meter attached. Participants plug all of their electronics into this one power strip. The Smart Strip includes a "control outlet" that turns off the entire power strip once the device that is connected to the control outlet is powered off. This function decreases the amount of energy that is drawn from devices that are powered off yet still plugged into the wall, also known as a phantom load. This unique function also eliminates the hassle of having to crawl under a desk to turn off the power strip.

Participants are also given a guide to electricity which explains where Middlebury gets its power from and key facts about electricity along with a guide explaining "Winning the Race Together" - the College's campaign toward carbon neutrality.

The competition is split up into two week long segments. During the first week, participants are expected to plug the Kill-a-Watt meter into their outlet and use their electronics the way they normally do. At the end of each night, participants write down the cumulative kilowatt-hours and the number of hours the kill-a-watt meter has been plugged in for.

The second week of the competition focuses on energy conservation. Participants use the Smart Strip that is provided and try to cut back the amount of superfluous electricity they use during the course of the day. Just like the first week, participants write down the amount of electricity they have consumed and report their data back to the Sustainability Integration Office. The team that reduces the greatest total electricity consumed and the team with the greatest percent reduction in electricity during the second week of the competition are both awarded.

At the end of every round, the winning teams are given gift cards to spend on the online organization Kiva. Kiva is an online micro-finance organization that promotes development through microcredit. The public can browse around the site and look for projects that they would like to help fund. The entrepreneur that originally requested the loan then follows through with their project and gradually repays the lenders over time.

The first round of Power Strip, which lasted from March 2 to March 16, was highly successful with all participants decreasing their electricity use significantly.

"Each team showed signs of reductions in their consumption of electricity," said Scott.

For round one of the competition, students cut their electricity use by nearly 40 percent by reducing 29.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity. If the student body as a whole made similar reductions in electricity use, Middlebury would eliminate 43,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and would save about $55,000 per year on energy costs.

The College's Winning the Race Together campaign toward carbon neutrality by 2016 has made great strides in the past few months. The recent opening of the biomass gasification plant on Feb. 19 is projected to cut Middlebury's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 40 percent and decrease its fuel consumption by 50 percent.

Middlebury is using a four-pronged approach to achieve carbon neutrality by 2016. Through conservation, efficiency, renewables and offsets, the College should be able to reduce carbon emissions significantly by the projected date.

The College is currently researching the feasibility of utilizing renewable energy sources to provide energy on campus. Two different types of solar panel systems were recently installed at the student residence 107 Shannon Street to test their potential for reducing fuel and electricity use. These solar thermal panel systems use a direct heat transfer from the sun's light to provide hot water for the residences. Although these solar panels do not create electricity from the sun's light, like photovoltaic modules, solar thermal panels decrease the amount of electricity that is needed to heat water.

Furthermore, three new "carbon neutrality implementation teams" were established in early March to facilitate the implementation of carbon neutrality by 2016. The new teams, Carbon Neutrality Team for Master Plan Implementation, Community Engagement and Leadership, and Measurement and Reporting, are all chaired by members of President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz's staff. The establishment of three separate teams, each with their own obligations and goals, makes it easier to ensure the effective implementation of the "Winning the Race Together" campaign.

The two upcoming rounds of "Power Strip: How Much Can You Take Off" are from April 13 to April 27 and April 27 to May 11. Students are encouraged to contact the Sustainability Integration Office at klscott@middlebury.edu or x 2536 if they are interested in competing.