NC State Residence Hall Selected to Compete in National Building Competition

North Carolina State University’s Tucker Residence Hall has been selected to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) first national “Working off the Waste” competition among commercial buildings to save energy and fight climate change.

Tucker Hall will compete against 13 other buildings across the country to “work off the waste” – a play off NBC’s hit show “The Biggest Loser” – through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. The building that sheds the most energy waste on a percentage basis will be recognized as the winner of EPA’s National Building Competition in late October 2010. NC State will compete against hotels, schools and stores across the country – including a residence hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nearly 200 buildings applied to participate in the competition, which will judge the energy performance of the 14 finalists from Sept. 1, 2009, to Aug. 31, 2010. The energy use of each building is being monitored with EPA’s online measurement and tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. Contestants will receive technical assistance from EPA, as well as “energy fitness” advice. Each building will participate in a mid-point weigh-in and post results on the competition’s website. Twitter updates by contestants will also be available at www.twitter.com/EnergyStarBldgs/contestants

NC State has made a commitment to reduce annual energy consumption per square foot by at least four percent over a 10-year period. This commitment, coupled with the university’s recently created Greenhouse Gas Inventory and ongoing Climate Action Plan, acts as a road map for all energy and water conservation strategies. As a signatory to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, NC State is committed to achieving climate neutrality and is proud to be an EPA Energy Star Partner University.

To learn more about the competition, visit http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=buildingcontest.index.

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