Green Cup

NMH Kicks Off Green Cup Challenge

JANUARY 24, 2006

Gill, MA—Northfield Mount Hermon School is one of three college preparatory schools in the Northeast competing in an energy conservation competition. NMH, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, and the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ, will launch the first interschool Green Cup Challenge on February 1. The Green Cup Challenge aims to make students, faculty, and staff aware of their electricity use and to help them find ways to conserve. The school that decreases its electricity consumption by the largest percentage over the month of February wins the competition.

“By reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants,” says Becca Leslie, environmental science teacher at NMH, “we’re trying to reduce our impact on the environment. It’s an exciting and competitive way to include the entire community in taking responsibility for our actions.” Data collected during the contest will be incorporated into science curricula at NMH.

How the Contest Works:
Each school’s facilities management staff will measure electrical energy consumption by metering campus consumption. Overall, campus electricity was measured first during a “quiet metering” period this winter to get baseline numbers. Yankee Technology of Ludlow, MA, provided NMH with 13 electricity monitors—a donation of $50,000—for student houses. The monitors allow students to access information on consumption at the Green Cup Web site (www.greencup.nmhschool.org).
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The challenge will include five-minute, student-created videos from each competing school, which will be shown at school-wide meetings throughout February. The prize, a glass trophy made by sculptor Josh Simpson, the parent of an NMH graduate, will be displayed at the winning school. The trophy’s base is made from wood from the three schools.

Fliers, posters, school newspaper articles, staff e-mails, and public announcements will offer participants tips to incorporate saving energy into their daily routines. The school community will be encouraged to turn off computers, monitors, stereos, radios, and other electronics when not in use; unplug chargers when not in use; switch from incandescent bulbs to compact-fluorescents; use the stairs instead of elevators; turn off lights when rooms are empty; and report to facilities managers campus lights left on during the day.

Northfield Mount Hermon School is an independent coeducational boarding and day school in Gill, MA.

Contact: Becca Leslie, 413-498-5156
or Kate Snyder, 413-498-3357

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