Maritime student residences challenged to save energy

The University of Prince Edward Island has challenged students in residences at other post-secondary institutions in the Maritimes to an energy conservation competition. Holland College, St. Francis Xavier, Mount Allison, Dalhousie and the University of New Brunswick have all confirmed their participation. Students in more than 30 residences will take part.

'We're delighted with the enthusiastic response to our challenge,' says David Taylor, manager of sustainability and energy management at UPEI. 'The competition provides students with a real opportunity to reduce their energy consumption and minimize their personal impact on the environment.'

Each student residence will track its weekly electrical energy consumption and prepare a report. UPEI will use the reports to generate a summary for all participants and post the data on its sustainability website. The summary will demonstrate the percentage reductions in energy usage for each residence weekly and cumulatively. This information will be shared via a participant listserv as well.

The competition will run for six weeks, beginning on January 10. Mount Allison students have drafted a code of conduct for the energy challenge that will be included on the website. Institutions are free to use this code or modify it to suit their particular situations.

At the end of the challenge, prizes and a plaque will be awarded to the institution with the greatest cumulative reduction in energy usage from January 10 to February 20, 2010. The plaque is being donated by Maritime Electric.