Electro-Contest Fall ’21

The Suffield community participated in a weeklong campus-wide Electro-Contest from November 1 to 8.

The contest (held for the second straight year) aimed at highlighting and reducing the community’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It was organized by Stacy Yurkovskaya ’23 from Minsk, Belarus. Stacy first recorded the initial baseline weekly energy use by dorm and then re-recorded after the contest. This year’s winner was Nathena Fuller House, with Rockwell Hall second and Barnes House third. Nathena had 29% reduction from 347kW to 247kW. They earned two nights in the Student Union during evening study hall and a day of exam dress code. Rockwell Hall reduced consumption by 27% (also earning a week of exam dress code), and Barnes reduced energy use 26% and will have a dorm pizza party. Overall energy reduction across Suffield’s residence halls was 1560 kW during the contest, marking a 13% decrease from the previous week.

Stacy commented, “I am very happy about the results of the second round of the Electro-Contest. So many dorms had fantastic results, and our winners were only few percentage points away from each other. The 13% overall reduction was 1.5 times greater than our results in the spring. Suffield’s boarders should be proud, and we are excited to have more rounds of Electro-Contest in the future.” Stacy reminded community members that although this contest has ended, there are still many ways to reduce electricity usage on campus. Examples include turning off the lights when you don’t need them, using fans less, being more efficient with laundry, and unplugging chargers when not in use.