Eco-Madness Won By Hilltop Building

OEP Happy With Month-Long Apt. Competition

By: Kate King

Posted: 5/1/08

The Crandall building in Hilltop Apartments has won Eco-Madness, a water and energy-reduction contest sponsored by Eco-Husky and the Office of Environmental Policy (OEP).

Crandall reduced its energy use by 23 percent and water use by 20 percent over the month-long competition, which ended April 18, according to Jessica LaRocca, an intern at the OEP and the event's organizer. The contest challenged residents of South, Husky Village, Charter Oak Apartments and Hilltop Apartments to reduce their water and energy use in their daily lives.

"I'm happy with the results," LaRocca said. "I think most of the residents saw what was going on and that's what's important."

The Sigma Phi Epsilon and Delta Zeta building in Husky Village came in second place in the Eco-Madness contest, according to the contest's final results, which are posted on the EcoHusky Web site. In third place was the Crawford building in Hilltop Apartments.

The winning buildings were determined by comparing water and energy usage per person over the four-week long contest to previous data to see which building achieved the highest reduction rate, according to LaRocca. The baseline data was compiled by a compliance analyst at the OEP.

Residents of Crandall celebrated their win Wednesday night with a Dairy Bar ice cream party sponsored by ResLife. The building also was given an "energy offset certificate" from the OEP, LaRocca said. The certificate means that the OEP will match the amount of carbon reduced by Crandall by purchasing renewable energy from the company Sterling Planet.

Crandall Community Assistant Nicole Veach, a 6th-semester secondary history education major, was well aware of the Eco-Madness contest because she was one of the event's Eco-Captains, who were responsible for promoting the competition. In order to reduce energy and water use during the contest, Veach said she took shorter showers and only ran the dishwasher in her apartment when it was completely full.

To conserve energy, "I turned off my computer at night, which is something I never do," Veach said.

Another resident of Crandall, 8th-semester chemical engineering major Christine Endicott, said that the contest didn't really affect her attitude toward water and energy conservation.

"I was aware of the contest but I usually try to turn off the lights anyway," Endicott said. "I didn't take any extra measures."

Next year, LaRocca believes that the contest will focus on buildings where freshmen live rather than upperclassmen, which comprised the majority of residents targeted during this year's Eco-Madness competition.

"It's harder to get through to juniors and seniors," LaRocca said.

Although she is graduating this spring, LaRocca will do a little planning this summer to improve next year's Eco-Madness competition through measures such as more enticing prizes, she said.

Contact Kate King at

Katherine.King@UConn.edu.