Switching off lights and taking shorter showers, Pemberton Cottage reduced their average energy consumption by 37.5% to snag first place in the, “Andover Blue, Living the Green Dream” Competition.
Dorms and clusters competed for the greatest percentage decrease in electricity consumption between October 14 through November 2.
Winning first place, Pemberton Cottage saved 401 kilowatt hours (KWH) of electricity.
West Quad North reduced their average electricity consumption by 6.9% and saved 1,206 KWH to win the cluster competition.
All 26 dorms on campus saved a total of 1477 KWH and averted 1811 pounds of carbon during the challenge.
The Sustainability Office measured the energy consumption in dorms and displayed the statistics on Gunga Data, live- stream webpage.
Blue Key Heads promised Chipotle munches and Andover/ Exeter apparel to dorms and clusters that saved the most electricity.
Students across campus strategized with their dormmates about how to save the most electricity.
Members of Pemberton Cottaged primarily worked to reduce their energy consumption by shutting off lights.
“We have been using desk lamps instead of the big lights on the ceilings, studying together in one room with one or two desk lamps [to use] as little electricity as possible,” said Noah Hornick, a Junior in Pemberton Cottage.
Pranav Dorbala ‘14, in Bishop Hall, said “People took shorter showers, and there was a strong push to turn off all the lights.”
“A lot of people always came around turning off the hallway and bathroom lights.They were really into the competition,” he added. Patrick Monaghan ‘14, in Taylor Hall, said that his dorm unplugged all electronics, including the refrigerators.
The Gunga Data web page displays daily, monthly and yearly electrical consumptions in 26 dorms and 7 main buildings on campus. The website also provides the total amount of carbon dioxide and money not expended.
Noah Hornik ‘15, in Pemberton Cottage said, “We checked at least daily, to make sure our lead had [not] gone down. We would then make some extra effort to use less electricity that day. It was a pretty big factor.”
Gunga Data does not provide statistics for all of the dorms and buildings at Phillips Academy because some buildings do not run in the same electrical system, but Patricia Russell, the Instructor in Biology and the Sustainability Coordinator said it has a bright future.
“Its just a matter of money and time. We start with 26. Eventually, the website will be able to provide not only electrical usage, but also steam, water and heat usage for the school body to see,” said Russell.
Lucid Design Group, an energy monitoring company, organized and administered the Gunga Data website.
“Each building has one [sub]meter that basically measures all the electricity used,” Russell explained.
“Then all of that information goes into a central server and then the information from each building is going from that central server to this company called Lucid Design.”
Commercial companies including Google, IKEA, Yahoo, Fidelity Investment, independent boarding schools and universities used Lucid Design to present energy usage to employees or students.
