Save a kilowatt on MaRS Challenge Day

Conserve @ MaRS

Yesterday, as part of Energy Conservation Week‘s “Count Every Kilowatt Day,” we recorded the actual electricity consumption in the building. It was a pretty average day, so it’s a great picture of the power our building normally consumes.

Now we want to see what would happen if we got together and put our innovative minds to the idea of energy conservation. So we created MaRS Challenge Day. We’re asking tenants to reduce their electricity consumption with us on Thursday, June 5, 2008 (“MaRS Challenge Day”) to see what we can achieve.

This week, we noticed some areas where we think we can easily make a difference: the odd empty refrigerator still running, coffee makers left on, lobby/meeting room lights, photocopiers, desk and office lights left on at end of day. Turning these electricity suckers off is a simple way to reduce our electricity demand.

So what can you do?

• Watch for controllable office consumption like those coffee pots and turn them off when not in use; better yet, unplug them to reduce standby power or “phantom load”
• Turn off the lights when you leave a room that is rarely used or at LEAST at the end of the day
• Wear or bring clothing layers and adjust them to reduce air conditioning requirements
• Print only what is really necessary
• Turn off your computer at the end of the day, or when you leave the office
• Instead of turning on a light in the lunchroom, use natural sunlight — take your lunch outside, or use natural light whenever possible
• Check out the Energy Conservation Week and Every Kilowatt Counts websites for more ideas

Stay tuned for the results of our MaRS Challenge and see how just one community can make a difference. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to have those results emailed to you!

Think. Believe. Act.
Watch Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer’s Think. Believe. Act. conservation video to inspire you and your co-workers to conserve.

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Tags: cleantech, energy, environment, MaRS