While Cal State Monterey Bay’s Power Down Competition encourages students to reduce overall energy use, it ultimately places responsibility on those who contribute the least to the university’s overall electricity consumption.
Throughout April, CSUMB’s sustainability team has been hosting the second annual Power Down Competition, tracking electricity use across main campus residence halls.
The competition aims to raise awareness about energy consumption and encourage more mindful habits. Each building is assessed based on percentage reduction in electricity use, with adjustments for the number of residents in order to ensure fairness. At the end of the competition the winning building receives a Wild Blue boba party for all residents.
Each Monday, the sustainability team posted results on Instagram, featuring a leaderboard of the 12 residence buildings and their percentage reductions. Those updates were intended to keep students engaged and motivated through the competition.
To create a benchmark, the team conducted a baseline week in March. “Across all main campus buildings, students used an average of 22.5 kWh (90 kWh a month) during our baseline week,” said Derek Martin of the sustainability team.
Reducing electricity is an accessible way to lower a carbon footprint. However, the Power Down Competition represents only a small fraction of CSUMB’s total energy use.
According to Facilities Management, “The Main Campus account, which includes academic and administrative buildings, used approximately 859,762 kWh last month. In addition, the campus solar field generated 176,732 kWh,” reducing the amount of energy that needs to be purchase from PG&E. reducing the need to purchase electricity from PG&E.” This means that the university still relies on PG&E for a significant portion of their electricity, but this solar energy offsets some of that demand.
Even accounting for solar offsets, academic and administrative buildings consume significantly more electricity than residence halls. The Main Campus account uses roughly 7,500 times more electricity than student housing, highlighting a major disparity in campus energy use, and raising questions about why conservation efforts focus primarily on students.
Although CSUMB promotes a sense of shared community, much of the responsibility for energy consumption is placed onto the students, despite the relatively small share of total energy use.
The Power Down Competition should expand to include academic departments and administrative units. A broader effort better reflects the shared responsibility of reducing the university’s environmental impact.