Holy Cross has committed to carbon neutrality by 2040. We’ve already reduced 23 percent of our emissions since 2007. Now, the Presidential Task Force on the Environment is challenging students, faculty and staff to help us.
The Power Down Challenge is a part of the SynergE Worcester project, a campaign to advance higher education sustainability in Worcester. SynergE is a collaborative effort between College of the Holy Cross, Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, National Grid, and GreenerU.
Will you accept the Power Down Challenge?
We challenge you to make one new energy-saving choice in your daily life on campus. You could:
- Shut down your computer when not in use. Most popular choice — saves up 730 kWh per year. If every student took this challenge, the emissions saved would be equivalent to taking 38 round-the-world flights.
- Turn off task lighting and overhead lights when leaving the room. Saves up to 220 kWh per year. If you and your best friend took this challenge, the emissions saved would be equivalent to taking a round-trip road trip from Holy Cross to New York City.
- Set power management features on a major appliance like a computer or printer to activate when you haven’t used the device for 15 minutes. Saves up to 670 kWh per year, a carbon impact equal to driving from Holy Cross to Roanoke, Va.
- Choose your own action! How much could you save?
The office and residence hall with the highest participation will each win a prize of their choice, including a Green Office Starter Kit, sustainable ice cream social, and other environmentally-friendly options
Residence halls and offices can join the challenge today.
Please email PowerDown@SynergEWorcester.com, or fill in your information below to get started. One of the challenge organizers will be in touch to get you, your office, your department, or your residence hall floor to get started.
Assumptions:
1. All figures utilize a few shared assumptions:
a. Devices will be turned off from 5 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next day for faculty and staff. Devices will be turned off for fewer hours by students, but the figures presented represent the greatest potential savings. Therefore, the number of hours utilized in these equations is 16.
b. The number of days worked by a staff person each year is 230. The figure presented is high for faculty and students, who may only be on campus for the duration of the average school year (195 days).
c. The average price per kWh that Holy Cross will pay in the 2012-2013 year is $.107.
2. The average wattage of a desktop computer and monitor is 200W.
3. A single 60W incandescent bulb is used in the example.
4. In the power management example, a desktop computer and monitor are used. These devices will continue to use up to 23W while in sleep mode. Assuming a staff member takes a one hour lunch break, sleep mode will activate twice during the day (once during lunch, and once at the end of the day), but the computer will continue to use power at a standard rate of 200W for 15 minutes in both cases before entering sleep mode. Therefore, the daily hours saved in this example are 16 (overnight) + 1 (lunch hour) – .5 (two 15 minute intervals) = 16.5 hours.
5. The standard automobile efficiency for 2012 is 24.17MPG according to the Clean Air-Cool Planet Carbon Calculator.
