If you haven’t noticed Johnnies with a little more fuzz on their faces for a beard-growing contest and lights turned off at Gorecki, then chances are you don’t know about the National Campus Energy Challenge.

This is the first year that more than 100 schools have competed in the energy challenge, a national, month-long competition to reduce energy consumption.

This is the second year CSB/SJU has participated. Campus Greens and Echo are co-sponsoring events all month.

“We’re obviously reaching everyone because it affects everyone,” said Echo President Bridget Sitzer. “This month is important for students to realize it’s practical (to conserve energy). It’s not that hard. They shouldn’t see it as a choice, it should be ingrained in all of us.”

Last year, St. Ben’s reduced energy consumption by two percent, said Danielle Butenhoff, the co-chair of Campus Greens.

Students won’t know whether CSB/SJU has increased or decreased energy consumption compared to last year until the end of the challenge at the end of this month. But some are already optimistic.

“This year has been more successful (because) people are more aware of what’s going on,” said Tom Kirzeder, the vice president of Echo. “We’ve made a bigger impact.”

The best way to reduce energy consumption is simple: don’t use as much.

“The easiest and most cost-effective thing is consuming less energy,” said Sophia Gossman, the
treasurer of Campus Greens. “It is the most viable option right now.”

Derek Larson, the chair of the environmental studies department, agreed.

“Buildings account for about two-thirds of our energy use, so lighting and heating are priorities,” he said.

One reason to reduce energy consumption is because of the abundant evidence of its link with global warming.

Carbon dioxide emissions represent 82 percent of total U.S. human-made greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and sub-surface ocean temperatures to rise,” a 2001 report by the National Research Council indicated.

“The science of climate change was settled long ago; the only remaining debates about whether it is happening are essentially political,” Larson said via e-mail. “The legitimate scientific debates now are over just what will happen, when it will happen and if we can do anything to prevent it.”

Larson contends global warming is inevitable and isn’t something we can completely prevent.

“Many scientists predict a three to four degree increase would have catastrophic consequences like mass extinctions, flooding of most coastal cities, epidemic disease, etc. We’d be wise to avoid that,” Larson said.

If slowing global warming isn’t enough of an incentive to reduce energy consumption, then consider its economic costs.

“It will save the school money so they can put that money to add improvements somewhere else (at the school),” Gossman said. “(That) would definitely be beneficial for students.”

Power Plant Supervisor Terry Loso said via e-mail that CSB and the Monastery used $737,000 worth of electricity and $638,660 in fuel during the last fiscal year. Break that down, and he said St. Ben’s uses about 35,000 to 38,000 kilowatts an hour each day.

Other campuses, St. Olaf for instance, have invested in providing energy through alternative sources such as by wind turbines.

Cost is the greatest obstacle that prevents CSB/SJU from doing the same. However, SJU will be installing solar panels on the New Science Building by the end of the school year.

But the energy produced won’t be sufficient for the sole source of campus power.

“It’s a modest installation really meant as a demonstration,” Larson said via e-mail. “The cost of such alternative power is not competitive with coal; until the cost of coal power goes up very few people/institutions will invest in alternatives unless they are forced to (like Xcel energy).”

Conserving energy isn’t just a month-long effort. It’s also part of the presidents’ promise after signing the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment, which encourages colleges nationwide to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Both CSB President MaryAnn Baenninger and SJU President Br. Dietrich Reinhart OSB have signed along with almost 500 other college presidents.

Ernie Diedrich, a professor for environmental economics and environmental studies, said SJU has received a grant from Xcel to install solar panels on the New Science building. In addition, the new Flynntown community building will be “environmentally sound,” which means they will be made of lead-certified silver.

The new proposed academic building at CSB will also be made of this environmentally friendly material, Diedrich said.

“Some campuses have buses that run on cooking oil,” he said.

Local food is another way to reduce energy consumption. Campus Greens said they’ve advocated for locally grown foods provided at the Reef.

“There isn’t much reason to object to local foods at the (Gorecki),” Butenhoff said. “Local foods are something that can save the school a lot of money. There’s certainly an economic realism in buying local.”

But the institution can only do so much with a limited amount of resources, money and technology available.

And that’s where students come in – especially “phantom energy users” who leave cell phone chargers or computers turned on even when not in use.

“If we could just become aware of things that are using energy even when we’re not using them and make an effort to unplug or turn those things off and not be as wasteful with our energy,” Kirzeder said.

Others agree.

“The simple act of flipping a switch off can affect energy usage,” Diedrich said.

Every CSB/SJU student can make a difference in even small ways, Butenhoff said.

“It’s not just about putting up a windmill,” Butenhoff said. “It’s about empowering students and citizens to participate in everyday actions that can help protect the environment that are really effective. Every little bit that anyone does can help.”