Last month, the Green Campus Partnership asked the Penn community to participate in the Power Down Challenge, an initiative to increase dialogue about environment, energy, and climate issues. As part of the Power Down Challenge campaign, the first campus-wide Energy Reduction Challenge was held on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Starting at midnight on the 24th and ending at 11:59 p.m., the Penn community was asked to turn down thermostats, turn off lights, and unplug appliances when not in use. Over the 24-hour period, Penn saw a 5.8 percent weather-normalized energy reduction compared to the rest of the month. That amounted to savings of 220,460 kilowatt hours or 2.2 megawatts, and is equivalent to 354 barrels of oil, or the energy needed to charge an iPhone 6 for 58,016 years straight.

As a result of these savings, Penn’s Sustainability Office in Facilities and Real Estate Services will be donating $5,800 to support Climate Action Research Grants to the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. These grants give undergraduate students the chance to conduct innovative research under the direction of Penn faculty and address issues of environmental sustainability and global climate change.