Enactus announced today the winners of their We’re Into Saving Energy (WISE) Guys Dorm Energy Competition. The Paul House won for the smallest dorm, Olds Residence won for the large dorm, and the women of Chi Omega sorority won for Greek housing.
The energy contest began in January and ran until the end of March. The competition was between the 17 college-owned residences, broken up into three competition groups.
Junior Sam Ryskamp, team leader of the WISE Guys Enactus group, said there was a total savings of $4,600, almost five percent of the energy budget and a savings of about 10 percent on electricity.
Ryskamp also said there were savings in all the dorms except two and the average was nine percent. The competition saved twice as much as last year’s.
Junior Shannon Baldwin, resident assistant for the Paul House, said they lowered the thermostat by two degrees, lowering it when it was not as cold, turned off lights, and kept everything else normal. It was not a conscious effort, but it was effective over the long run.
Each of the winning dorms did its best to make the competition something the students wanted to participate. Junior Kindle Barber, president of Chi Omega, said they made saving energy fun by having weekly movie nights in the social room.
In Olds, one girl made memes with a picture of someone holding a torch and saying “turn off the lights.”
“We began to make more of a conscious effort to turn off the lights when we were not using them, like in the bathroom and the halls,” said sophomore Rebecca Robison, Olds head resident assistant. “It has been pretty dark in Olds for a few weeks now.”
Robison also said they took the initiative before spring break to remind the girls to turn off and unplug electronics before break, and everyone really encouraged each other to turn off the lights when they weren’t in rooms.
The winners each received a monetary prize: Olds received $500, Paul $200, and Chi Omega $200.
“We are hoping to buy a new TV for the girls-only movie room,” Robison said.