Week 1:

1/19 - 1/25

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

SUMMARY:

With Fenzel House offline this year, the field has opened up on SOUTH for a new champion. Smith House led the pack campus-wide by conserving nearly 11 percent on their electricity usage. Look out for True, Brown and Hoover trailing by just a slim percentage point. Together, these top four residence halls have already saved the equivalent of over 14 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in just one week. Way to go South!

Meanwhile, in the EAST, Scott Quad has established a first lead out of the gate, saving over 9 percent on their electricity usage versus last year's baseline. Seems the international students are putting our Ohio students to shame! Don't count them out yet, though -- Biddle, Washington and Johnson are showing impressive results. Word on the street is that their eco-reps have got their eyes on the prize: Cedar Point in May.

Bromley is out in front on WEST Green, which was dominated by James Hall last year. I don't think the James-ians are going to like this one bit, trailing in fifth place at the end of Week 1. By sheer force of numbers, Boyd has succeeded in demonstrating the largest total electricity savings this week, leading to over 15 tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions. Those are the largest savings by any hall on campus this week. Remember that rankings are determined by percentage of electricity saved compared to your own baseline. Boyd will need to beat Bromley's 9.4% savings to take first place in week 2.

Check all the latest scores and tips for the 2009 Residence Challenge at our web site: www.ohio.edu/sustainability.

Battle on!

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Week 2:

1/26 - 2/01

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

In the second week of the Residence Challenge, the competition is cutthroat and it's clear that first place will not come easy. On EAST Voigt jumped six places to steal the lead from Scott Quad by ratcheting down their electricity use 14.4% below baseline. Gamertsfelder is also looking hungry for a win. They are in third, trailing Scott Quad by only one percentage point.

On WEST, Bromley was knocked down to fourth place by Wilson Hall with Boyd trailing at a very close second. Wilson demonstrated savings of 13.2%, up from 8.8% last week. They've already secured 13 seats on the bus to Cedar Point -- that is, if they can maintain their lead to the bitter end. The Convo, in eighth place, has accrued the highest CO2 savings in the competition over weeks 1 and 2, totaling over 9,200 lbs. This is an indication of how much electricity the Convo uses in a given week. By saving just 5.8% in week 2, Convo residents accomplished the equivalent of taking 270 cars off the road for one day.

On SOUTH, Brown surged ahead with week two electricity savings totaling 13% leaving Smith in the dust in fifth place. But Pickering is this week's real story. They nearly doubled their electricity savings to soar from twelfth to second place. Look out Brown! Pickering's eyes are fixed on you!

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Week 3:

2/02 - 2/08

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

Tip of the week: Please don't forget to remind students who have access to window box air conditioning units that those should be set to FAN rather than COOL if they feel inclined to use them, and of course turned off when everyone leaves the room. In halls with individual thermostats, students should avoid setting the room to COOL in the winter; as we have disabled the cooling function, this may actually serve to heat the room up!

SUMMARY

On WEST, the fierce back and forth ring match between Bromley and Wilson continues. Bromley got knocked out of first place in round two, but in round three solid results have enabled them to reclaim its first place spot with cumulative savings at 10.6%. Wilson took a hard hit, and its now recouping in fourth place after a lower weekly savings of 4.2%, knocking its cumulative score down almost three points. Meanwhile, Treudley really ramped up its energy savings this week, up to 10.1%, a third place ranking in weekly savings. Treudley residents will have to keep their energy savings profile low if they want to sneak up on Bromley by raising their cumulative savings. At the end of this match, the team with the highest cumulative savings will come out on top.

On EAST, Voigt maintains its lead with cumulative savings at 11%--but barely. Biddle is hot on its heels, just a tenth of a place behind after more than doubling its energy savings from last week bumping its cumulative savings up 3 points! Voigt residents who have been feeling overheated better turn their A/C units to fan this week if they want to keep their lead. Read is threatening to make a break away from the back of the pack, doubling weekly savings to 10.4%, lengthening its stride for an additional two points of cumulative savings!

On SOUTH, Brown still stands on the first place pedestal, but Dougan is looking to bump them off. Douganites are going strong with weekly savings of 15.3%. Hot tip off the South Green: if you tend to be cold in your room while others swelter on higher floors, consider using FREE plastic sheeting on your windows to insulate. Get it directly from your friendly South Green office.

Good luck in Week 4!

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Week 4:

2/09 - 2/15

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

SUMMARY

On WEST, Bromley is attempting a break away win. Residents cranked down their energy usage by 16.5% raising their cumulative savings up to 12.1%. If they maintain their lead, 59 Bromley residents will be cheering at the top of their lungs on the Magnum at Cedar Point in May. Meanwhile, Treudley is still harboring the dream of unseeding them. Treudlians continue to pick off competitors weekly -- sitting pretty in fourth place. Exchanging an incandescent for compact fluorescent bulb may help Treudley knock off the remaining leaders. Any takers?

On EAST, Biddle storms into first place with cumulative savings of 12.7% beyond their baseline. Meanwhile, Read Hall continues to knock other halls out of its way, as it charges into fourth place. Look out Biddle, Johnson and Voigt! If Read residents continue to save big, you may be their next victim.

On SOUTH, Pickering out-saved every other dorm in the competition!!! Their week four savings reached 22.9%. However, Brown still maintains the overall lead, with a slightly higher cumulative score. If Pickeringtonians keep their savings high again this week, Brown may have to kiss its victory goodbye. O'Bleness also made an amazing show this week, doubling last week's savings and leaping 9 places in the cumulative standings. Keep it up O'Bleness!

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Week 5:

2/16 - 2/22

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

SUMMARY

On WEST, Bromley and James maintained first and second places - working hard but looking strong. Both halls continue to bank additional Cedar Point tickets weekly. If Bromley maintains its lead, seventeen more people will be on the bus to Sandusky! But the real story this week was Treudley. Since the beginning of the race, they've steadily picked off other halls, creeping up to third place this week. If they keep it up, this tortoise just might cross the line ahead of our current hares!

On EAST, Biddle holds a slender lead with cumulative savings of 13.9%. But Bush made an amazing show last week! They may have gotten tripped up out of the starting gate, but they are up and running strong now, sprinting to catch up with the pack. Bush's week five savings totaled 21%, the highest savings rates achieved anywhere on campus! Currently at the middle of the pack, Lincoln picked up CFLs at the Office of Sustainability to conduct a light bulb exchange. Will this bring up their week 6 standings? Only time will tell.

On SOUTH, Brown led the pack with the highest cumulative savings in the competition -- 15.6%! Pickering, meanwhile, dropped down to third. Did they attempt a breakaway too soon? Perhaps if they unplug their coffee makers, DVD players and TVs when not in use this week, they'll store up enough savings to make a second stab at first place. Ewing had the best improvement in weekly savings, tripling their savings from last week! Excellent work.

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Week 6:

2/23 - 3/01

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

Go Green, Bobcats!

SUMMARY

On SOUTH, with the final seconds of this competition ticking away, Dougan has overthrown Brown - heavens! Will Brownists simply acquiesce to the Douganites new reign, or will they attempt to regain the throne that they selfishly occupied for the last 4 weeks? We'll have our answer Sunday when the final buzzer of this competition sounds.

On WEST, Bromley is dominating its opponents. Because of its massive savings rate and its sheer size, Bromley has avoided emitting 19 tons of CO2 and secured 95 tickets to Cedar Point. The century mark is within the residents' reach if they keep up their current savings rate! Other West dorms have backed off a bit. It will take a mighty effort for one of these dorms to trump Bromley with just one week remaining in the competition.

On EAST, Biddle maintains its lead with 20% savings rates this week, bumping their cumulative savings up one point to 14.9%. As long as Biddle residents don't trip up, they will break the finish line tape and jog a victory lap in celebration on Sunday. After an amazing performance last week, Bush seems to have run out of gas with savings plummeting to near zero again - don't lose hope, Bush!

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Week 7:

3/02 - 3/08

Results Scoreboard (PDF)

WEST: Bromley Hall
EAST: Biddle Hall
SOUTH: Dougan House

Collectively, the residents of these three halls saved the equivalent of over 35 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in just seven weeks. That is comparable to the carbon impact of five average American homes in the course of a year. Excellent work!

More about the winners:

BROMLEY HALL has dominated its competition since the starting bell, ceding first place only once in week 2. Cumulatively, Bromleyans used 13 percent less electricity over the last seven weeks than they have on average in the last three years in the same time period. Many residents turned their fan settings to AUTO rather than HEAT which saved energy and also made rooms more comfortable. In so doing, they secured 115 all-expense paid passes to Cedar Point in May, the largest number of tickets won by any residence hall on campus.

BIDDLE HALL took some time to establish its lead on East Green, but once it did, it crushed all competitors consistently. In the last week of the competition, Biddlites had the highest savings rates of any hall on campus in any week -- nearly 30%. How'd they do it? The Resident Director tells us that it was common practice to turn off bathroom lights, unplug tv's and other appliances, and switch out incandescent lightbulbs for compact fluorescents. Biddle even went so far as to designate "community fridges" which allowed residents to unplug micro-fridge units in their rooms.

DOUGAN HOUSE is the comeback kid of the 2009 competition, having moved into first place on South Green just one week ago -- stunning the staff and residents of Brown Hall which had held the lead all the way up until week 5. Douganites were able to ramp up their conservation efforts from a rate of 8.5% in week 1 to 27% in week 7. One in three residents at Dougan will be traveling to Cedar Point thanks to their fantastic efforts.

Many thanks to everyone who got in the game this year. Special thanks to Ron Chapman, director of Energy Management, Leah Graham, Residence Challenge student coordinator, and the Eco-Rep who energized their halls and drove savings across campus.

Congratulations to the winners! Awards ceremony is scheduled for April 1, 5-7pm, in the 1804 Lounge at Baker Center.

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