This manual will help you bring the National Campus Energy Challenge (NCEC) to your campus. It is really easy to participate: Simply talk to your school's physical plant/facilities office, etc., and ask them to provide you with the needed data (see Reporting your school's energy data). Then, get a team of excited students together and work on as much publicity, student involvement, and campus energy efficiency as you can (See Involvement and Publicity). Finally, communicate with the other competing campuses in your region to share ideas and figure out what else you can do. It’s that simple.
However, you can take this even further:
- Inform your faculty, staff, and administration about the NCEC and collaborate with them to save energy and money. This is not only critical to succeeding in the national competition, but also opens up the opportunity to permanently implement sustainable energy practices/policy at your institution!
- Use the framework and publicity of the NCEC at your school to promote just and sustainable communities by working with people in your local area to save energy. Engage local leaders in implementing and supporting sustainable energy policies beyond campus.
- With the help of your regional NCEC coordinator, establish a statewide or regional student network. Use this network to effectively collaborate, communicate, and share ideas and resources. Together, advance state level policy changes and regional sustainable development.
An excellent way to start working toward these goals is to use the National Campus Energy Challenge to follow up an educational Focus the Nation event in your area. (http://www.focusthenation.org)
