Get ready for the 2026 Campus Conservation Challenge!
From April 1 to April 30, all the residence halls will be competing to save the most amount of energy, and YOU can play a role from your rooms. Five lucky participants from the winning residence hall will receive cool prizes like gift cards to Mim’s Cafe, Minnesota-themed water bottles and JBL speakers! Fill out the form below to be part of something incredible to reduce the University’s carbon footprint and contribute to a campus culture of sustainability.
Ways we can make a bigger impact this year:
- Unplug your devices before leaving for class.
- Wash your laundry in cold water.
- Switch off your lights before leaving for class.
- Use LED light bulbs.
- Use a power strip.
- Grab a sustainability bingo sheet from your residence hall or college building with more tips.
This year, the Office of Sustainability is giving away additional prizes for filling out a two-minute survey evaluating how you feel about sustainability, and for tagging @umnsustainability and using the #FlipTheSwitch hashtag on all your posts and stories saving electricity!
Find us tabling around campus for more cool energy-saving giveaways and prizes, and don’t forget to #FlipTheSwitch!
Get inspired with this article recapping last year’s initiative.
Interested in our methodology for evaluating the residence halls this year? See below.
Methodology
Overview
For this year’s #FlipTheSwitch challenge, residence halls will be compared based on how their actual energy use compares to what we expect them to use.
We will be working with folks from Facilities Management to build a model to predict how much electricity and steam each residence hall should use between April 1 to April 30. Expected energy use is calculated using historical building data and real-time weather conditions during the competition period.
The model accounts for factors that affect energy demand, including:
- Outdoor temperature
- Cloud cover
- Dew point (humidity)
- Whether school is in session
- Day of the week
We will then compare expected energy use vs. actual energy use.
The residence hall that achieves the largest percentage reduction from its expected energy use will win the challenge.
Process
Electricity and steam are measured in different units (kWh for electricity and klb for steam). To compare them fairly, both are converted into the same unit: BTUs (British Thermal Units).
This allows us to combine all building energy use into a single comparable metric for each residence hall.
Why weather-normalize?
Weather has a major impact on how much energy buildings use for heating, cooling and ventilation.
By adjusting for weather and other external factors, we can make a fair comparison between residence halls. This reduces differences caused by things like:
- Weather conditions during the month
- Building size or age
- Renovations or infrastructure differences
- Buildings with dining halls or other shared facilities
This means the competition rewards real energy-saving behavior by residents, rather than differences between buildings.