Current News
Energy savings may be music to their ears
Tyler Dunham ´09, co-chair of the Renewable Energy Club says money spent on energy could instead, through conservation efforts, be better used for campus social activities.
December 15, 2006
Students have launched an initiative to reduce the consumption of heating fuel and electricity on campus. The incentive? A "Concert from Conservation" to be funded by a percentage of the money saved from conservation.
Twenty-five percent of the dollars saved through conservation in the residence halls this winter, compared to energy usage from last winter, will go toward funding a concert on campus this spring.
Tyler Dunham, a Connecticut College sophomore and co-chair of the Renewable Energy Club, said the competition benefits both the environment and the students' on-campus social opportunities. Dunham said that by using 10 percent less electricity - by doing such things as using compact fluorescent light bulbs, turning off lights and computers, and doing bigger loads of laundry - students could ultimately net approximately $5,000 to augment the Student Government Association's social activities funding.
"The money spent buying more energy could be better used for things that really matter on campus," Dunham said.
The Renewable Energy Club is planning an extensive awareness and educational campaign on campus in support of the effort. The initiative is sponsored by the Connecticut College Renewable Energy Club and has been supported by the Student Government Association and the Environmental Model Committee.
For more information and for energy savings ideas, go to the Renewable Energy Club website at http://rec.conncoll.edu.
The college on a whole is currently amidst a "dial-down campaign" to reduce the college's heating oil use. The range of automated building temperatures has been reduced from 74-70 degrees to 72-68 degrees. It is believed the college can reduce its total consumption by 18,000 gallons for every degree of reduction, thereby saving nearly $110,000. The reduced use of heating oil also decreases the amount of carbon emissions into the environment.
For media inquiries contact: Amy Martin (860) 439-2526; a.martin@conncoll.edu