Exeter Starts Interschool Reduction Rivalry Competition
From Feb. 16 until March 2, Exeter is competing in the annual interschool Reduction Rivalry, in an effort to raise awareness about energy use. Exeter, Brooks School, Governor’s Academy and St. Paul’s School are all contending for the prize of first place—clocking the least amount of energy used in this two-week span. If PEA wins, Principal Tom Hassan said he will reward the student body with a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream party. The competition also extends to an inter-dorm competition, and the winning dorms will receive prizes at the conclusion of the two weeks.
“I think that Exeter students also very much want to win the competition against the other schools. It is a starting point for beginning to identify where we are using the most energy and how we can use less energy.”
In 2003, Exeter founded a similar event, the Green Cup Challenge, which encouraged dorms to reduce energy usage. The competition was successful, saving Exeter thousands of dollars, and soon expanded to many other schools. In recent years the Academy has decided to return to a smaller competition, so the E-Board and E-Board adviser Inna Sysevich organized the Reduction Rivalry for a closer-knit group of schools.
Starting this year, students will be able to monitor up-to-date data using the new online Energy Dashboard site. Jill Robinson, the senior manager of Sustainability and Natural Resources, believes that the dashboard will give students the opportunity to see how each dorm’s electricity use can affect the overall energy use of the Academy.
“If you don’t know how much energy your building is using, you don’t have a frame of reference, so you don’t know whether the changes you make in behavior are having any effect and you don’t know how much your building uses compared to a typical building of its type,” Robinson said. “Most importantly, you might not care much since you aren’t seeing it or thinking about it.”
The competition among the dorms can be easily tracked by the online dashboard. By looking at the data, the school can investigate if the behavior of its occupants is affecting the energy usage in dorms, or if any specific buildings could be improved for higher efficiency.
In conjunction with the Reduction Rivalry, E-proctors across campus are re-encouraging their dorms and fellow classmates to be conscious about saving energy.
“The competition provides a good incentive for people to be more conscious about energy usage. It will keep that Climate Action Day spirit running. The E-proctor team believes it is a fun and engaging way for the school to work together,” upper Olivia Reed said.
Already, students in dorms such as Wheelwright have worked together to conserve energy. While pursuing the title of the Reduction Rivalry, the Wheelwright occupants have been able to bond while keeping the level of energy down. “[The students on] my floor are studying in the hallway for two hours to save energy,” senior Emily Lemmerman said.
Although the E-Board encourages students to fully participate, many students feel that the conditions of the event are not going to have a large impact in the long run. Even though Exonians will become aware of energy use, the motivation to conserve energy may stop once the competition ends and the prizes have been distributed. “I think that it’s inefficient to only have it for two weeks, because afterwards, everyone will forget about it. It will just go back to how it was before,” prep Alyssa Kuwana said. “There should always be awareness of electricity usage, no matter what time of year.”
Upper Ariel Kim had a similar attitude towards the two week event. “I just try to reduce my own power usage, but shouldn’t we be conscious about it all the time? I don't pay attention to who wins or loses,” she said.
Although many members of the student body are keeping track of electricity usage in hopes of winning the grand prize of ice cream, some believe there is not as much of an incentive to reduce energy usage, since Andover is not participating in the challenge. “There is not enough of a rivalry between Exeter and the other schools participating to motivate enough students. The only events worth doing are the ones between us and Andover,” lower Jiro Mizuno said.
Still, the competition can meaningfully impact how members of the community consider the effects of their daily decisions, whether small or large. “The small methods of conserving energy add up to large reductions. Washers and dryers use a lot of electricity so students could use a shorter cycle, do fewer washes, only do a wash when you have a full load or using cold water instead of hot,” Robinson said.
“Turning off lights, computers and appliances such as power strips when leaving your room and refraining from using appliances such as hair dryers also save energy.”
The event organizers are hoping that the rivalries on and off campus, inspired by the challenge, are going to help reduce the school’s energy usage over the next two weeks as well as after the two weeks come to a close. “I suspect the dorm to dorm competition is more intense and also more fun since students know people who live in the other dorms, versus not knowing people at the other schools,” Robinson said, “I think that Exeter students also very much want to win the competition against the other schools. It is a starting point for beginning to identify where we are using the most energy and how we can use less energy.”