by Shane Henson — May 11, 2012—College students across the United States earned high marks in the areas of sustainability, advocacy, and leadership through participating in the 2012 Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) competition to reduce energy and conserve water. The annual competition is run by The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) through its USGBC Students Program.
According to the USGBC, this year, nearly a quarter of a million students at 100 colleges and universities across the United States collectively saved 1,739,046 kilowatt-hours of energy, equivalent to 2.6 million lbs. of carbon dioxide (CO2) and $157,925 in savings. This year’s results surpassed the original competition savings goal of one gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity. Students also saved 1,554,814 gallons of water, equivalent to 10,300 shower hours.
From February 6 through April 23, 2012, students competed to achieve the greatest reductions in their residence halls over a three-week period, with savings from each campus contributing to a collective national challenge goal. Students organized peers through direct action in their residence halls, and extensively utilized social media to motivate and encourage sustainable behaviors, proving that occupants play a critical role in greening their buildings. By making commitments to turn off unused electronics, take shorter showers, use the stairs instead of the elevator, and other simple tactics, students across the country demonstrated how individual actions make a difference in the way our buildings consume electricity and water, says the USGBC.
Participating schools used Lucid’s Building Dashboard to compare performance, share winning strategies, and track standings among the leading schools and buildings. Lucid, a privately held cleantech software company that partnered with USGBC for the competition, is a pioneer in providing real-time feedback to teach, inspire behavior change, and save energy and water resources in buildings.
“The success of CCN demonstrates the tremendous collective impact that individual actions can have for reducing resource consumption and fostering a broader culture of conservation on campuses,” said Andrew deCoriolis, director of engagement at Lucid.
