“We launched these challenges with a call to imagine all of the residents of a small rural community and all the students, faculty, and staff of a college campus working together to reduce the electricity use of their entire town and campus each by 10 to 15 percent,” said Kim Pederson, Otter Tail Power Company Manager, Market Planning. “What they’ve accomplished so far was more than we imagined possible but the hard work is still in front of them as they strike out on their own to sustain these savings.”

The Crookston campus achieved much of its savings from upgrading campus lighting and installing automated controls on variable-frequency drives for some of the ventilation systems. Otter Tail Power Company assisted with the audits to identify high-level savings projects and provided more than $86,000 in grants and rebates to encourage the investments by reducing payback times.

“Significant savings also were noted when the Facilities Management Department implemented a new work order system in August that took deliberate steps to change operational procedures such as shutting off more lights than before, closing shades, and reducing heating levels in certain areas,” said Chancellor Charles Casey. “I’m proud but not surprised about just how much the people on this campus have been able to accomplish. And I’m confident that the behavior changes we’ve been focused on will continue to show real results.”

The community of Rothsay achieved more than half of its cumulative savings from behavioral changes on the part of Rothsay Public School, homeowners, and businesses. Otter Tail Power Company also granted almost $117,000 in rebates for energy-efficient lighting and technology improvements. “This program was developed as a three-legged stool,” said Pederson. “Education, efficient end-use technologies, and incentivized behavioral changes each play a critical role in the success of these projects. And achieving long-term savings in Rothsay will be possible only with ongoing energy-saving behaviors and a community that won’t settle for anything less than achieving its goal.”

Rothsay Public School is committed to continuing its leadership role in this challenge. “The Community Energy Challenge has been an excellent program that has brought a new sense of awareness regarding energy use throughout the community,” said Ehren Zimmerman, Dean of Students/Principal at Rothsay Public School. “And it has brought a new approach to hands-on learning for our faculty, staff, and students. Now it’s our turn to pay it forward and keep the savings going.”

Emery encouraged residence to put even more effort into their energy savings because the Residence Hall Challenge was just one small part of the overall Campus Energy Challenge and there are still thousands of dollars that can be ReDirected to students based on total amount of behavior related savings acheived by the end of the year.

To reach the goal students are encouraged to make simple changes such as shutting off the lights when we leave a room, turning off computers when they are not in use, taking shorter showers, and encouraging others to do the same. It’s an effort to help save precious resources and encourage energy saving habits for a lifetime.

The Campus Energy Challenge goal for the U of M, Crookston, is to better understand that the choices made about electrical use have a global impact and to reduce energy consumption by up to 15percent through simple changes in behavior.

An important part of the Campus Energy Challenge is educating campus stakeholders about energy efficiency and helping them build lifelong habits. LeBlanc shared a clip from one of his Power Walking videos in which most of the people he encounters on the street can’t tell him how much a pound of carbon dioxide weighs or how much they pay for electricity on average each month. In another clip a young Colorado couple confidently stated that they had reduced their energy use significantly by not turning on their heat all last winter. When LeBlanc asked how they managed that they replied, “By using space heaters.” At the end of the event Jon Fabre invited everyone to return the following day for a more scholarly presentation about using social marketing to promote energy-saving behaviors, which was also well attended.

1. Turn off lights when you leave, including classroom and hallway lights when they aren't needed.
2. Turn off computers when they're not in use.
3. Unplug chargers for electronics when they're not in use.

We found a high degree of awareness about energy use and a willingness to learn more about saving energy among the 286 students, faculty, and staff who participated in the survey. Read the summary survey results or see the full survey report.

News release

• January 13, 2010
  Campus Energy Challenge Kickoff to Raise Awareness and Reduce Energy Consumption

Video

• Game show kickoff event

News release

• October 2, 2009
  Working together with U of M, Crookston, to reduce campus electricity consumption

Video

• Otter Tail Power Company President and CEO Chuck MacFarlane's address
• Presentation of the commemorative print: River Otters
• Evergreen Hall ribbon cutting