If you live on South Campus, then you have probably seen the Morrison Residence Hall banner confirming its victory in the Energy Star National Building Competition.
Morrison went head to head with 14 other buildings across the United States in a year-long competition to see which building could save the most energy.
The Daily Tar Heel followed up with the competitors to see their response to Morrison’s victory and to the energy competition.
Crystal River Elementary School in Carbondale, Colo., came in seventh place by reducing energy costs by 12.2 percent.
But regardless of the numbers, the competition was a wonderful experience, said Karen Olsen, the school’s principal.
“It was really getting our building working as efficiently as it should have worked,” Olsen said.
“It is a fairly new building and we really wanted to make sure it was as energy efficient and well functioning as possible,” she said. “That was a huge goal for us and it was also a really neat opportunity for our kids to participate.”
The school’s placing demonstrates students of all ages might make an impact.
Students would repeatedly tell administrators to turn off the lights and ask what the school was doing to help save energy and the planet, Olsen said.
Likewise, the 800 students in the Morrison dorm proved they cared about the planet by reducing their energy costs by 35.7 percent.
The Sheraton Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas, which came in 13th place, shared the sentiment about the competition.
“Our team really loved it, we got so much support, and it brought a lot of extra meaning to just turning off the light switch,” said Sarah Fraser, the leader of the hotel’s green team.
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