As any mathlete or quiz bowler can tell you, experiencing the thrill, the palpable rush of no-holds barred competition doesn’t require heavy exertion. Racing to solve for x, y, and, yes, z in time to beat the competition and hold on to your lead is as intoxicating a feeling as you’ll find anywhere (outside of three gin and tonics). Plus, it gives you useful skills and knowledge, or at least good filler for those cocktail parties you’ve been hearing so much about.
In a kind of slow-motion nerd-sports Tour de France, teams from 14 universities have assembled on the Mall this week to determine one thing: Who can build the most efficient solar house? These groups have spent the past several academic years designing their homes, which are now being submitted to a battery of tests to determine how efficiently they meet the energy needs of the average American home. The houses, which were erected two weeks ago, must be able to provide a variety of amenities for their residents, including lighting, hot water, refrigeration and a well-controlled atmosphere. They will also be judged on the ingenuity and livability of their designs. The competition will end on Oct. 5.
But the ultimate question is this: How does Georgetown fare in this battle of efficiency? Granted, our fair university is hampered by the salient lack of an engineering program, or even science facilities more useful than those of a reasonably modern high school. However, we do have the world’s largest functioning solar array, located atop ICC. According to John Rogers, manager of Electrical Distribution Systems, the array is made up of 4,464 photo-voltaic panels covering a total area of 36,000 square feet. During daylight hours, the solar array meets about one-third of the building’s energy needs. However, nighttime use of ICC deflates the energy production of the array to one-fifth of the total amount needed.
Beyond ICC, it’s hard to tell just how efficient we are. We at Voice Leisure have a feeling we aren’t, so here are some helpful suggestions for how we could all conserve energy. Because we are all horrified by the idea that we might have to turn off our computers, air conditioners and cappuccino machines, we will have to look for less obvious pockets of wasted energy. The University has already implemented our first suggestion by shutting off the lights in front of Leavey Center on random weeknights. Once we all get used to tripping over each other, we will indeed be thankful for the leaner electric bills. Other suggestions we have to save energy include heating buildings with SFS students instead of fossil fuels, having eunuchs carry maintenance staff around in litters instead of using wasteful golf carts, and putting an end to the weekly tire fires on Copley Lawn. But if these measures fail to produce results, rest assured, we’ve still got the Solar Decathletes.
