Play the Game:  February 20 - March 11

Reduce your energy and water use.  Compete on behalf of your hall to win the competition, and compete on behalf of yourself to win one or more of 95 REWARDS.  Mama Earth needs your help.  Get at it.

Ways to Play

1. PLEDGE TO REDUCE - Take the online survey and pledge to reduce.  Watch the tutorial here.
2. Assist Others with pledging and reducing their energy and water use.  Have a friend join you, and move quickly!  Watch the tutorial here.
3. Black Out - Be social, attend a Strategy Session, or make an Energy/Water Video.
   >> See Rewards below.  Watch video tutorials on Ways to Play.
   

More Ways to Play

• Energy Dashboard  - Real-time data on all the halls' electricity and water consumption.  View updates and tweets on hall leaders, weekly reward winners, and Black Outs.
• Playing Fields:  See floor plans of every hall:  Brandt, Dieseth, Farwell, Larsen, Miller, Olson, Ylvisaker.  See who has pledged, assisted others with pledging and reducing, and participated in Black Out activities.  Attend a Strategy Session to learn how to play and also scope out the Playing Field and strategize with your hall to win!
• Calendar - See the scheduled list of Black Out activities.  Then, register yours.
• Facebook - Join the Luther Energy Competition Group for updates on halls in the lead, weekly reward winners, and Black Out activities.  Make your profile picture all black when you Black Out.
• Hall Captains - This is your hall's Sustainability Rep.  They run the weekly strategy session and update the Playing Field and energy competition bulletin boards in your hall.

Game Manual

Contains everything needed to know to participate and win in Luther's Annual Energy Competition.

Welcome
Overview
Ways to Play
More Ways to Play
Rewards
Why Play
Tools to Help Others 

Welcome,

Player.  You have joined the game.  You have the ability to do very well for yourself, the campus, and your planet. 

You play a vital role in this competition, competing on behalf of your hall to beat out the other halls' reduction of energy and water consumption.  It's a three-week battle.   Indeed, it is a race to the bottom.

How low can you go?

Overview

Compete as an individual in a variety of ways and win one or more of 95 rewards.  The Energy Dashboard measures electricity and water reduction.  The hall that achieves the greatest average reduction of electricity and water wins the Energy Competition Ring. 

There is only one ring.

Participating Halls include Brandt, Olson, Ylvisaker, Miller, Dieseth, Larsen, Farwell, and Baker Village.

170 campuses across the nation are competing to cumulatively reduce 1 GIGAWATT.  Reducing 1GW is leaving 500,000lbs of coal in the earth, and keeping 16,200,000 ft3 of CO2 from your lungs, and not leaving your AC on for 230 years.  Win!

Here is your chance.  Join the game.  Take the pledge.

Ways to Play

Watch video tutorials on all 3 Ways to Play.

1.  PLEDGE TO REDUCE:  Take the online survey and pledge to reduce energy and water use.

2.  Assist Others:  After you've pledged, assist friends, floor-mates, and your teams and groups with pledging and energy and water reduction by completing 3 steps.  Assist Others with a friend and quickly tackle multiple roommates and rooms!

• Get a Supplies Kit from the Service Center or a Strategy Session:  CFLs, competition wristbands, “turn off” light stickers, Energy All Star decals, and Game Manuals.
• Go to somebody's room (friends and soon-to-be friends!) and have him/her/them pledge.
• Offer CFLs, wristbands (for Black Outs), sticker, decal, Game Manuals, and tips from the manual.  Hang up their Energy All Star manual--just two more steps to All Star status.

3.  Black Out:  A Black Out is when people turn off their lights and electronics, leave their room, and join a group of people somewhere else.  So easy! It’s more people using fewer resources--being social.  Watch video tutorials on Black Out opportunities and Ways to Play.  Here are the 3 ways to Black Out.

• Be Social:  Watch a movie with a friend, or head to a basketball game.  Go downtown for coffee, or head to the library to study.  Any event where at least one person vacates a room and heads somewhere else qualifies.  To record, either complete the form online, or tag pictures of your activity on the Energy Competition's Facebook page.
• Strategy Sessions:  Each week, every hall will have a strategy session led by the hall captain to encourage involvement and determine where efforts are needed to ensure THE WIN.  You can pick up CFLs and wristbands here.  Lights off when you go.
• Energy/Water Video:  A music or action hero video, whatever--create a video related to energy and/or water reduction, upload it to YouTube, and send the link to livesimply@luther.edu for a chance to be rewarded!

More Ways to Play

Playing Fields:  Check your RA bulletin boards for floor plans of every hall and floor.  See a map of who has pledged, assisted others, and participated in Black Out activities.  Attend a Strategy Session to learn how to play, reduce, and WIN!

Energy Dashboard:  View the Energy Dashboard, showing all of the hall's real-time electricity and water consumption.  View updates and tweets on hall leaders, weekly rewards winners, and Black Outs.

Calendar:  See the scheduled list of Black Out activities and Strategy Sessions!

Facebook:  Join the Luther Energy Competition Group for updates on halls in the lead, weekly reward winners, and Black Out activities.  Change your profile picture to all BLACK when you Pledge, Assist Others, or Black Out, or use our Competition Profile Picture (located above).

Hall Captain:  This is your hall's Sustainability Rep.  They run the weekly strategy session, update the Playing Field, and update the energy competition bulletin boards in your hall.

Rewards

95 individual, 1 group, 3 floor, and 1 hall. 

Energy All Stars:  45 people - $15 each

Play all 3 ways:  (1) Pledge, (2) Assist at least one other person's pledge and energy reduction, and (3) Participate in at least one Black Out activity.  Every week, 15 Energy All Stars' names will be raffled, and a $15 gift card will be rewarded each week.  You choose the local business!

Assist Others:  45 people - $15 each

Every time you assist somebody with pledging and reduction, your name is put in a raffle.  Every week, we'll draw 15 names, and a $15 gift card will be rewarded to each.  Yes, you can win more than once.  See below on how to assist others.   With the gift card, you choose the local business!

Energy and Water Video:  $15 per person up to 5 people

Make a video, put it on YouTube, send the link to livesimply@luther.edu, and it will be voted on at the Closing Ceremony:  FTW.

3 Floors - $150 each

• Floor with highest percentage of students taking the pledge. 
• Floor with the highest percentage of students assisting others with the pledge and reduction. 
• Floor with highest percentage of students participating in Black Out activities.
  >> Tie-breaker goes to the floor with the most Energy All Stars

One Hall Reward - One Ring

One large ring for the victor, beautiful and coveted, proudly placed in the Union to signify the year's champion hall.  Why lose if you can win?

Why Play?

Gift Cards:  Over 90 gift cards will be given away.  Choose where to spend your gift card from any locally owned business.  The more you play, the greater your chance of winning.

Momentum:  Luther is 1 of 8 colleges in the nation to earn an A on their Green Report Card!  Luther is in an elite league including Brown University, Yale University, UW-Madison, and Oberlin College.  That took collective action, but more is needed.  Compete in the energy competition, and raise the bar!

Gateway:  The opportunity is knocking on your door.  Pledge to reduce energy and water consumption, and see how easy it is to make them habits.

Energy and Water Urgency:  Luther College used 15,000,000 kWh of electricity and 11,000,000 gallons of water in 2010-11.

• All came from coal, which harms health when extracted, transported, and burned (think mercury, deforestation, and asthma).
• Burning that coal produces enough CO2 gas to cover our 200 acre central campus in 32' of toxic fumes
• Difference between an incandescent and a compact fluorescent bulb = 50lbs of coal per year
• Reduce your shower by 1 minute everyday, and save 900 gallons of water in a year

Luther is Committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50%.  The wind turbine helps, but we need your help to glide to greater feats!  Take charge and WIN the energy competition.

Tools to Assist Others

1. Get supplies from a Strategy Session or Service Center, pick up no more than 5 CFLs, wristbands, light stickers, and game manuals.  Once you hand them out, you can go back for more. 
2. Assist people in your hall

• Ask them to complete the pledge online.  They can refer to the tables on page 7 and 8 of the Game Manual to understand what behaviors use what energy and what they should pledge to reduce.
• Ask if they need a CFL.  Give only 1 per roommate.  This is recorded on the pledge.
• Make sure they record your name as the person assisting with the pledge.
• Be helpful:  If they have a refrigerator, make sure it's 2" from the wall and the coils are clean.
• Show them the Energy Dashboard and Playing Field, if interested, and encourage their involvement.

FAQs

Winning the competition
The hall that achieves the greatest average percent reduction in water and electricity wins the energy competition.  This is measured by the Energy Dashboard.  A hall that reduces water use by 10% and electricity use by 20% achieves an average percent reduction of 15%.

Energy Conservation Pledge
To participate in the Energy Competition, you need to take the Energy Competition pledge provided above, even if you have previously taken the Energy Conservation Pledge. 

Electricity, energy--what does the Energy Dashboard measure?
Our campus is powered by electricity (primarily coal, a fossil fuel) and natural gas (a fossil fuel).  Electricity powers our lights, electronics, appliances, water pumps, and the heat in Baker Village and the CFA.  Natural gas heats our buildings and water. 

The Energy Dashboard only measures electricity and water use currently.  While important to reducing harmful fossil fuel use and rising energy costs that students pay, turning down your heat in your room or the temperature of your water in the shower is not reflected on the Energy Dashboard nor in the Energy Competition.

Pledging and Assisting Others
You can take the pledge by yourself, or somebody can assist you with the pledge.  No matter how the pledge is taken, it counts the same.  However, it is more effective to have somebody assist you with the pledge because it provides more accountability, the person assisting you also has to provide CFLs, tips, and other materials to get you involved, and there are also rewards attached to assisting others with the pledge.

Keeping Track
When you pledge, assist others, or black out, we record the name, building, and room number so we can keep track of who has been involved and update the Playing Field.

Sources
Electricity consumption tables:  http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html
Shower consumption table (at 2.5 gpm):  http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/technologies/eep_faucets_showerheads_calc.html#output
Volume of 1lb CO2:  http://www.thegreeneconomy.com/what-is-a-carbon/
Weight of coal burned to generate 1kWh = 2lbs:  http://www.stewartmarion.com/carbon-footprint/html/carbon-footprint-kilowatt-hour.html  
Volume of 1 ton of coal = 40 cubic feet:  http://www.thegreeneconomy.com/what-is-a-carbon/