Media Advisory: Students continue success in saving water for Campus Conservation Nationals
Out of a field of 125 colleges and universities, Wake Forest students placed in the top five in fresh water savings for the second year in a row during the 2015 Campus Conservation Nationals competition.
Campus Conservation Nationals is a nationwide, three-week effort among institutions of higher learning to conserve electricity and water.
From Feb. 9 to March 1, Wake Forest students competed to achieve the greatest reductions in their residence halls in electricity and water consumption. Due to extremely cold weather conditions, Wake Forest was unable to place in the top 10 in electricity reduction like last year. However, the cold weather did not stop their efforts with water usage. Students saved over 37,000 gallons of water during the competition window.
Staff and students, under the guidance of staff members Megan Anderson and Hannah Slodounik and student interns, Kristen Cortese and Jack Sypek, took the lead in raising awareness and sharing information. They held events and used social media to inform students on how energy and water is consumed in the residence halls and ways to reduce consumption, including using daylight when available, changing the thermostat settings and taking shorter showers.
“The extremely cold weather concealed what a great job the staff and students did in raising awareness for energy and water conservation,” said Mike Draughn, director of Maintenance and Utilities for the university. “The water reduction numbers are 100 percent the direct result of actions taken by students living in these residence halls and provide the affirmation that they can make a difference in the way our buildings consume electricity and water.”
Campus Conservation Nationals is hosted by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council in partnership with Lucid (a California-based software company), the Alliance to Save Energy, and the National Wildlife Federation. Wake Forest used Lucid’s Building Dashboard® to compare performance, share winning strategies and track standings.
About Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University combines the best traditions of a small liberal arts college with the resources of a large research university. Founded in 1834, the school is located in Winston-Salem, N.C. The University’s graduate school of arts and sciences, divinity school, and nationally ranked schools of law, medicine and business enrich our intellectual environment. Learn more about Wake Forest University at www.wfu.edu.
