Energy battle with Wartburg ends in draw

A unique competition between Luther and Wartburg took place in February. The Energy Evolution contest results have been calculated and the outcome is a tie.

Throughout the month, both schools were challenged to decrease their energy use, using the long-standing rivalry as motivation to reach their sustainability goals.

Due to some unexpected variables in measuring energy consumption and making comparisons with previous year’s figures, the colleges have agreed to an unprecedented split, according to a press release from Wartburg College.

Wartburg students saw a decrease in electricity by 3.62 percent while Luther’s electricity consumption rose 1.8 percent.

Caleb Mattison, sustainability coordinator, supplied an explanation for the increase.

“[The increase] is probably due to the addition of Sampson-Hoffland — an energy intensive building — and some energy-intensive equipment installed in Main over the summer,” Mattison said. “We tried to account for changes but we couldn’t account for everything.”

Mattison remained optimistic about Luther’s results.

“I’m confident, though, that energy use in February would have been up more than 1.8 percent if not for all the conservation we did,” Mattison said.

Tammy Faux, Wartburg assistant professor of social work and sustainability officer, shared a positive outlook on the efforts of both schools.

“This year was a pilot for this competition,” Faux said. “Both schools learned a lot about how complex it is to track energy use and our carbon footprints.”

Mattison agreed.

“We consider this entire month a success,” Mattison said. “Our primary goal was to raise awareness about conserving energy and conserving energy is a win-win.”

Next year, some changes may be brought to the competition, including higher stakes between the colleges.

“Before we go into the competition with Wartburg, I think we will try to nail down our terms for determining the winner, which we didn’t really do this year,” Mattison said. “We might be measuring water to add that to the competition. Also, I think we will seek funding for a larger prize that would go to the winning school, like a concert.”

Kristin Youngmeyer (‘09), who helped organize the floor-to-floor energy audit competition on campus, had other ideas for next year’s competition.

“We competed with Wartburg this year, but it would be interesting to get more schools involved,” Youngmeyer said.

She also had ideas for Luther’s portion of the competition.

“All our energy for planning events has focused mainly on the students, but it would be fun to get faculty departments and offices involved in the month,” Youngmeyer said. “This could include creating an audit competition among the different departments.”

Alongside the overall competition with Wartburg, Energy Evolution was aimed at creating competition between residence halls.

The change in electricity usage from the second week of February to the fourth week determined the winners.

According to Mattison, Farwell, Olson and Ylvisaker halls reduced the most energy. Farwell reduced by 16 percent, Olson by 15.25 percent and Ylvisaker by 14.75 percent.

Mattison seemed pleased with the results.

“Most halls weren’t far behind,” Mattison said. “This is great news. We didn’t know if the education we were doing was making an impact until we did the final calculation and saw this drop. I’m very surprised and impressed by all these reductions.”

Youngmeyer expressed satisfaction with the campus’ over-all effort.

“The most surprising thing was not that these dorms had the greatest reduction,” Youngmeyer said. “[It was] that every residence hall had a reduction in their energy consumption and each had a fairly substantial reduction.”

The ultimate goal of the competition seemed to be broader than simply reducing energy.

“What I really like about the competition is that the goal is to educate and create a dialogue within the college community about energy conservation issues,” Youngmeyer said.

Wartburg Vice President for Administration Gary Grace communicated the value of the competition for both colleges.

“As institutions of higher learning, it is our responsibility to promote the values of sustainability,” Grace said. “Friendly competitions with like-minded peers and colleagues at Luther offer a visible platform to assist in this education.”