Energy Games Meant to Get People Talking about Sustainabilty

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For the seventh year in a row, students and faculty compete in DePauw University's three-week long sustainability effort, Energy Games.
The Games, which originated as a promotion by DePauw's Environmental Club, has now expanded to become a joint effort among the Office for Sustainability and DePauw's Eco-Reps. The competition, which formerly involved only Greek organizations, now involves academic buildings as well.
The newly established first-year seminar "Campus Climate Action" taught by Professor Carol Steele and Professor Jennifer Everett was the primary contributor toward this effort. As part of the syllabus, students were divided up into separate groups and were asked to work on projects aimed towards increasing sustainability on campus. One of those groups of students chose to focus their efforts on increasing the effort put into Energy Games.
To prompt more participation from faculty, the students and professors worked together to develop an incentive award. This year, the administrative assistants of the academic building - Harrison or Asbury - that save the most energy during Energy Games will be taken out to lunch by President Casey.
"The competition this year has been fantastic, and that's because it's been talked about more," freshman Thomas Miller, President of the DePauw Environmental Club, said. "The key to working on all of the environmental issues that we face as a campus is getting people to talk about them. The competition builds off of itself."
Different from both the DePauw Environmental Group and the Office for Sustainability, DePauw's Eco-Reps became an official group in the fall of 2011. Unlike the Environmental Group, students must apply and be accepted to serve as a representative.
According to Miller, the Environmental Club is placing more emphasis on increasing student involvement for those who don't have the time to commit to being an Eco Representative.
"The Environmental Club seems like a great alternative to other environmental groups on campus that may require more of a commitment," senior Taylor Horowitz said.
While the Environmental Club has been responsible for the Energy Wars promotions on campus and the Eco-Reps have been responsible for the readings, the Office for Sustainability has focused its efforts on bringing the community together to act more as a unified effort.
"We want to facilitate change across campus," Anthony Baratta, Assistant Director of Sustainability said. "The Sustainability Office's purpose is not to be the only group of people doing everything on campus- we are trying to bring people together, as well. "
According to Baratta, there are many variables to be considered in the competition of Energy Games. Discovering a baseline of energy consumption for each competing unit was one of them.
"We can't just compare an organization like Sigma Nu to an organization like Theta," Baratta said. "The amount of people in the houses vary incredibly, meaning that energy consumption isn't equal. So, we measure according to percentage reduction and increase."
The Office for Sustainability measured energy consumption from each building involved in Energy Wars during the first two weeks of February. The average consumption for each building will transfer into the baseline.
"These efforts really matter in dollars and cents. The purpose of Energy Games is to alert the DePauw community that this isn't the only thing you can do," Baratta said. "There are so many ways to increase sustainability on campus."
So far, Baratta is very pleased with the campus community's efforts.
"It's a work in progress," Baratta said. "The goal going forward is to keep getting more and more people involved and raising awareness. "
While the Energy Games will be coming to an end on March 10, that's far from the conclusion of this semester's sustainable efforts. A new initiative, the Student Sustainability Fund, will offer students the opportunity to formulate plans focused on increasing sustainability on campus.
Pending on student applications voicing various ideas geared toward saving energy, DePauw Student Government along with the Office for Sustainability and the Allocations Board will determine how the money will be granted. According to Baratta, the SSF is a trial run. If all goes well, it will be officially institutionalized in the fall.
"Our hope is to cast a wide net and involve more students than those just involved in environmental clubs around campus," Baratta said. "We just want people with ideas to apply."