In early 2016, Penn’s Sustainability Office hosted its first daylong Energy Reduction Challenge. With the goal of conserving as much energy as possible in a 24-hour period, the University community successfully saved 220,640 kilowatt hours of electricity—enough to charge an iPhone for 58,016 years straight. In that one day, the campus reduced energy use by 5.8 percent compared to a normal baseline.

As a result of the savings, the Sustainability Office, which is housed in the Division of Facilities & Real Estate Services, donated $5,800 to support Climate Action Research Grants through the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships (CURF). The funding went toward advancing student and faculty projects this past summer.

Building off last year’s success, Penn will again host a one-day Energy Reduction Challenge, this year on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The challenge will start at midnight on the 22nd and continue until 11:59 p.m.

The University’s Environmental Sustainability Director Dan Garofalo suggests Penn faculty, staff, and students make a conscious effort on this day to “turn off their desk lights, computers, printers, radios, and fans when they aren’t in use, take advantage of natural light, choose the stairs over the elevator, eat a lunch that doesn’t need to be warmed up, wear an extra sweater” and additional zero-energy or energy-reducing activities.

“The idea of the Energy Reduction Challenge is to raise awareness of energy use across campus, and to demonstrate how easy some of these activities are,” Garofalo says. “Hopefully, participants will continue some of these practices for the rest of the year, and if enough people change their habits, we can make a significant reduction to our energy use and carbon emissions.”

As an extra incentive, the Sustainability Office will again make a donation amount related to the percentage of the energy saved on this day to CURF.

“What we are trying to drive is that everyone has a role to play,” Garofalo explains. “We as a University spend a lot of money and use a lot of energy each year to keep the buildings warm and cool, for instance, and even though it might not seem like you can do a lot to help, the things you do in aggregate make a big impact.”

The Energy Reduction Challenge is the culminating event of the Sustainability Office’s annual, month-long Power Down Challenge campaign. During February, look out for numerous events across campus, all intended to better educate members of the University community in energy consumption, reduction, and innovation.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, the Penn Women’s Center will host a Penn Sweater Day, providing cookies and hot chocolate to anyone wearing a sweater and layering for colder weather; on Friday, Feb. 10, and Friday, Feb. 24, Wharton Eco-Reps and Wharton Operations will host a split screening of the film “Merchants of Doubt;” and on Tuesday, Feb. 21, the Penn Sustainability Review will host a talk with James Ramsey, founder of Raad Studio and The Lowline park in New York City. See additional Power Down Challenge happenings on the Sustainability Office website.

The Penn community is asked to take a short Energy Habits Survey, analyzing people’s habits and knowledge of energy conservation issues. The survey will stay open through the end of February, and those who complete it will be entered into a raffle to win energy-saving prizes and Penn apparel. Also back again this year, on Monday, Feb. 20, is Space Heater Amnesty Day, where members of the Penn community can trade in their individual space heaters for an energy-saving CozyToes, a heated foot pad that uses up to 95 percent less electricity. The deadline to register is Feb. 8.