Powerdown for Pizza (and your Mother), an energy savings competition sponsored by the Resident Advisers and Eco Reps of Johnson, Dodd and Sanford Residence Halls, showed what dedicated energy-savers can do! Congrats to the winner, Johnson Hall. The other halls were not far behind in reducing energy used over the week of Spring Break. All three halls cut energy use by more than 40%!

Students were encouraged to unplug everything before leaving for break, as so-called “phantom loads” that appliances and electronics use, even when turned off, can add up to 7 to 10% of an electric bill! Students who stayed over break were asked to turn off lights and other electric appliances to help win the Powerdown energy savings competition. And they did!

Energy use was measured in kWh for the entire week of Break and compared against the previous week’s energy use to determine decrease. The total was adjusted to account for the number of students who stayed during Break in each hall.

Here are the Powerdown for Pizza (and your Mother) final results:

• Johnson: – 53%
• Sanford: – 47%
• Dodd: – 43%

Excellent effort! Why not Powerdown every day to save energy, reduce carbon footprint and cut our greenhouse gas emissions? Ask your Eco Rep for more information.