Oct. 2, 2009
University Housing at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie has won third place in the 2009 Best Practices Awards competition held by the Central Association of College and University Business Officers.
University Housing was recognized for its “Don’t Blow the Bulb” Residence Hall Energy competition, which it held in March. The competition pitted hall residents against each other in finding the simplest and best ways to reduce energy consumption. The hall with the largest percentage decrease in electricity usage received a pizza party during finals week.
The competition was sponsored by Stout@Hand, which is a sub-committee of UW-Stout’s Inter-Residence Hall Association — a student organization dedicated to representing all the students who live in the residence halls. The committee discovered that simple changes in daily habits, such as turning off lights when rooms were unoccupied and unplugging appliances when not in use, had a large cumulative effect.
To kick off the competition, students invited representatives from the university’s Physical Plant to teach them about different types of energy such as electricity, water, waste and recycling materials. They also learned about the ways in which different types of energy are measured.
Since electricity usage is measured in kilowatts and is easy to convert to cost savings, the students had goals of reducing electricity usage as well as reducing costs.
Overall, the residence halls reduced electricity usage during the contest month by almost 6 percent across the Residence Hall System, saving a total of 23,885 kilowatts or $2,329.
The award will be presented to a UW-Stout representative at an annual conference in Cincinnati Oct. 6. The third place award is a plaque and a check for $500.
This is the second time UW-Stout has won an award for best practices. In 2008, the Physical Plant also placed third for its Enhanced Safety Awareness Program.
For more information, contact Scott Griesbach, director of Housing, at griesbachs@uwstout.edu or 715-232-2131.
