News Releases
Lawrence recreation centers 'Energy Smackdown' continues
(Sent: 2012-09-27 09:22:23)NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Contact: Eileen Horn, county/city sustainability coordinator, (785) 330-3121
Lawrence recreation centers 'Energy Smackdown' continues
(Lawrence, Kan.) – For the past month, staff of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department’s recreation centers have been locked in a building-to-building competition to save energy. Dubbed the “Energy Smackdown,” this lighthearted, energy-saving contest is yielding serious savings and has become a close competition.
With one month remaining in this intense contest,the recreation centers’ staff have saved 25,000 kWh of electricity, and over $1,300. This will save the same greenhouse gas emissions as taking 4 cars off the road or planting 440 trees!
Staff at the three recreation centers (East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 15th St., Holcom Park Recreation Center, 2700 W. 27th St. and the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St.) have focused on simple changes to reduce energy use to bring about impressive results.
Thus far, East Lawrence Recreation Center is the facility with the most energy savings, having reduced energy usage by 13.5% percent over last year. However, the Community Building is right behind them with a 13% reduction. Holcom Park Recreation Center is also saving, and has reduced usage by 6.9% over last year.
How did they do it? Staff focused on the following simple changes:
- Turning out the lights when rooms are unoccupied.
- Plugging chargers, fans, DVD players, TVs, and miscellaneous appliances into powerstrips.
- Turning off exercise equipment, TVs, etc. when not in use.
- Syncing their programmable thermostats to their class schedules (keeping rooms cool when they need it, but not running the AC when rooms are empty).
About the Smackdown: The “Energy Smackdown” was created in 2011 when the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire/Medical Department firefighters and staff at all five fire/med stations competed in an energy-saving race. This year, the staff of the community’s three recreation centers are competing. The recreation center that reduces its electricity usage the most between July-September will receive prizes, and of course, bragging rights. The winning recreation center will be determined based on a percentage improvement over 2011. The station with the largest percentage reduction in electricity use will be declared the winner.
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