Less was more in a competition at Hope this fall that emphasized conserving energy.
The first annual "Cottage Energy Competition" organized by the college's Green Team
saw multiple Hope cottages vying for recognition based on the lowest use of electricity
for the nearly two months running from Friday, Sept. 30, through Wednesday, Nov. 23.
The contest recognized three houses for the lowest energy use per resident or the
biggest reduction in energy use from the same period a year earlier.
All of the participants were recognized and the winners announced during a wrap-up
dinner at Cook Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
The five-resident DuBois Cottage was honored as the winner for the lowest "per capita"
use on the Holland Board of Public Works electric loop, with 76.40 kiloWatt hours
per resident, a drop of 16.20 kWh per capita from the year before. The six-resident
Deutsches Haus, second overall, was the winner for the lowest per capita use on the
campus electric loop, with 81.00 kWh per capita, a drop of 10.57 kWh from the previous
year. The Spanish House, with seven residents, was third overall with 90.29 per capita,
but was the winner for the greatest per-capita decrease, dropping by 24.29 kWh from
the previous year.
A total of seven of the 60 Hope cottages participated in the debut contest. Based
on the success of the pilot event, the Green Team hopes to see the competition expand
to include more cottages and potentially residence halls in the future.
The event is not an end but a means, part of the on-going effort involving students,
faculty and staff to reduce the college's energy footprint and make the campus more
sustainable. The Green Team shared energy-saving tips during the competition - such
as to use energy-efficient microwaves instead of ovens, to remember to turn off lights,
and to perhaps use clotheslines instead of dryers - and surveyed the participants
at the dinner to learn their energy-saving strategies as ideas for others to use.