This February, NYU will be hosting the fourth annual NYUnplugged energy reduction competition! In years past, the Office of Sustainability has carefully tracked the energy consumption from each NYU Residence Hall throughout the month to determine which Hall can best reduce its consumption. The goal of the competition is to both educate and engage the student community around conscious and responsible energy use, and to see those efforts all the way through to actual reductions.

This year, the competition takes on a slightly new form: to make sure NYUnplugged is maximizing the engagement aspect of energy reductions, the competition will run on a point system that takes into account not only reductions, but outreach and education efforts as well. Each Residence Hall has the chance to earn points by holding NYUnplugged Weekly Theme Events, tabling in their lobbies, and spreading the word on social media. These points will be added up with points earned from reducing energy use to determine the final NYUnplugged 2016 Champion! The Champion Hall will receive an awesome prize (TBA) at the end of the competition to congratulate them for their excellent energy reduction efforts. In past years, the prize has varied from an exclusive music concert to a trampoline workout party – all held in low lighting, of course.

Students can reduce their energy by turning off lights, unplugging electronics, and making other small changes to their daily habits. By signing the NYUnplugged 2016 Pledge, students commit to doing their best to make those small changes, and encouraging others to do the same. Signing the Pledge can also win your Hall points!

In February of 2015, NYU Residence Halls used almost 75,000 kWh of energy, which is enough to drive a Tesla twelve times around Earth’s diameter (and then some). Reducing that number would mean using less oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels to produce power! NYU has committed to goals of reducing its carbon emissions by 50% by 2025, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, and NYUnplugged is just one of many ways the university is going about reaching those goals! You can learn more about NYU’s energy use here.