Students
Reach Energy-Saving Goal
It’s
official: the student group Clean Energy for Smith (CES) rallied
more than 1,800 Smith students in a campaign to voluntarily
set their computer monitors to power down when not in use.
CES joined the
college’s and Information Technology Services early this fall
in coordinating Smith’s Million Monitor Pledge Drive,
part of a national campaign projected to save $30 million
this year, and enough energy to power 350,000 homes for a
month. By signing the pledge, computer users enable an internal
Energy Star feature to automatically power down their computer
monitors after sitting unused for 15 to 20 minutes and reverting
to a low-power standby mode after an hour or more. The function
does not interrupt active computer applications.
Part of the drive
was a contest among Smith, Amherst and Mount Holyoke colleges
to sign up as many student pledges as possible by November
22. Smith surpassed its goal of 1,800 pledges, signing up
1,852 students, and winning the three-school challenge. Mount
Holyoke took second place with 1,325 pledges (surpassing its
goal of 1,300). Amherst gathered 831 pledges of its 1100-pledge
goal.
As a result, CES
will receive an award on behalf of Smith of 350,000 kilowatts
(kWh) worth of Renewable Energy Certificates, which can be
exchanged for zero-emissions electricity generated by wind
power. The certificates can provide enough electricity to
power all of Smith’s student computers for a year.
Also as part of
the contest, the three Smith houses to produce the highest
percentages of pledge signees won pizza parties, paid for
by Physical Plant. The winning houses were Hopkins, Park and
Tenney, each of which signed up nearly 100 percent of their
residents.
Next challenge:
to inspire at least 1,200 of Smith’s faculty and staff
members to sign the pledge to activate the Energy Star feature
and power down their computers when not in use. To pledge,
and follow instructions.
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