On Monday February 2nd, Dean Crawford stood before a crowd of faculty, students, and staff in Jordan Hall to issue a challenge to the entire College of Science: save as much energy as possible for the next year. Not only will energy conservation benefit the environment, explained Crawford, but half of all the money saved on electricity will be given back to the College to be used for scholarships and graduate fellowships. “If you can flip a switch or close a hood,” said Crawford, “you are supporting someone in the future.”
In addition to scholarship money, pride is also at stake. The College of Science has challenged the Main Building to a contest to see which one can save the greatest percentage compared to their typical electricity use. According to staff members in the Main Building, the Dome takes this challenge “very seriously” and is currently investigating a number of energy conservation strategies.
Rachel Novick, the Office of Sustainability’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, spoke to the crowd at Jordan about the various ways they can save energy in the lab. These include shutting off equipment and turning off lights when not in use, setting computers to sleep automatically, and keeping fume hoods closed. See the College of Science Energy Challenge website to learn more about energy conservation strategies and to keep up to date on who’s ahead in the contest.