The Home Energy Challenge

Energy Plan/Data Collection | Energy Plan/Poster Contest | About AHEEC

Make a Plan, Collect Data, Save Money!

The Home Energy Challenge inspires friendly competition among classes and schools, as students develop and implement energy saving strategies with the goal of saving money over a three-month period.

Here’s how it works:

1. Students will collect three consecutive months of individual home energy use during Challenge Period of September to December 2011, and compare it to the baseline data for the same three-month period of 2010.
2. Teachers will work with students to collect and analyze the data with the goals of learning about energy conservation and reducing their energy use.
3. Students will draft an energy use savings plan for their own homes.
4. Students must collect actual (not estimated) energy use data from their homes' utility records. (see optional participation for students unable to access baseline and challenge period homes' utility bills.)

While data will be collected only during a 3-month period, the program is intended to inspire students and families to maintain awareness of energy use and knowledge beyond the data collection period.

Resources are available at the AHEEC website to help students with data collection. In addition to collecting kWh use, students can collect additional comparative weather data for the same periods to help correct for the influence of weather differences on the energy savings from one year to another. Data can be used for helping students better understand the variations that might occur due to weather. Collecting these weather data is recommended to obtain additional points in the competition.

Many utilities, nongovernment energy use organizations, and other resources offer excellent energy efficiency programs and can provide expertise to assist competing teams. Existing online energy use tools from utilities and third parties can help simplify data collection and analysis, suggest ways to reduce energy use, and compare progress among teams. Teams will earn points for their creative and innovative uses of partnerships and online tools. The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Teachers Association will also provide resources such as energy calculators and energy savings ideas that students can implement both during and beyond their project timeframe.

 

REGIONAL COMPETITION

Once the local competition is complete (at the end of the Challenge Period), competing teams join forces to form a Regional Challenge "team-of-teams" entry. This Regional Entry is submitted by a School Representative who enrolled the school or by a homeschool Team Leader charged with combining homeschool teams into a larger group of at least 30 homeschool families.

AWARDS AND JUDGING CRITERIA

1. Participation Awards for America's Home Energy Education Challenge: Every student, classroom, and school that participates in the America's Home Energy Education Challenge will receive a Certificate of Recognition for their participation.
2. Regional and national awards for the Home Energy Challenge: 36 teams across the United States participating in the Home Energy Challenge will receive cash awards totaling $102,000 at the regional and national competition levels. Awards will be given to schools with the highest number of points based on:
   1. percentage decrease of household energy usage
   2. percentage of student participation
   3. creativity and overall quality of their local energy savings program based on a written summary of their local competition
   4. additional points awarded for engaging multiple schools in the local competition.
3. Regional and national awards for the Energy Plan and Poster Contest: 12 winning teams (one in each of the 11 competition regions plus one special award winner) will receive cash awards totaling $48,000 and win an opportunity to have their posters published in a national Save Energy, Save Money calendar with recognition for winning teams. One first place team in each of the 11 regions plus the special award winner will receive special recognition by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Teachers Association. Entries will be judged based on:
   • thoroughness of the plan in addressing multiple energy savings strategies for a home that are both feasible and practical;
   • the visual strength of the message in the poster
   • creativity in the visual interpretation of the energy-saving plan.
4. Honorable Mention Awards for the America's Home Energy Education Challenge: 800 teams/classrooms will receive an energy saving kit/instrument for Honorable Mention recognition in either the Home Energy Challenge or the Energy Conservation Plan and Poster Contest. Honorable Mention Awards will be presented to classrooms/teams that have demonstrated exemplary participation and energy savings in the program based on the criteria used to selecte regional winners.

REGISTRATION

1. America's Home Energy Education Challenge Registration Period – May 24, 2011 to October 7, 2011
2. The online registration submission is due by October 7, 2011. For a class or school to participate in the Home Energy Challenge, a School Representative (e.g. school principal) must complete the online enrollment and approval for participation.
3. Teachers will register as Team Leaders and they will maintain a roster of their students. No student names will be submitted or collected. A teacher should attempt to recruit as many participants as possible before the beginning of the Challenge period to maximize the time they have to take action. The teacher will need to verify that each student has, at a minimum, access to electricity use data for the entire Baseline and Challenge Periods.
4. The team narrative (energy plan process and product examples) and team poster may be uploaded and submitted for judging by the School Representative starting January 3, 2012. The submission deadline is January 20, 2012. For information regarding the submission process, view the Regional Entry section of the FAQ page.

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

1. This program is open to all public and private classes and schools for students in grades 3-8. Participating students must be enrolled in a program of compulsory school attendance. Homeschool networks may also participate but will only be eligible to enter the regional and national competitions if they recruit a minimum of 30 homeschool families to participate in their local competition.
2. Schools will need to enroll to participate by October 7 to be eligible for a regional or national award. Teams must register (using the school code assigned during school enrollment) by October 7.

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

1. Students attending the same school and sharing the same residential utility account(s) will be counted as separate and individual participants for their school.
2. Students who do not maintain the same home energy account number during the Baseline Period and the Challenge Period are not eligible to participate in the Home Energy Challenge. In other words, student participants must maintain the same residence throughout the Baseline and Challenge periods. If a student participant's utility account number changed between the Baseline and Challenge Periods but the student maintained (and submits data for) the same residence for the Baseline and Challenge Periods, that student participant is eligible to participate in the regional or national Home Energy Challenge. A complete explanation for account number changes will be required for the energy data verification process.
3. Only those participants who are listed in the team roster will be included in the Baseline and Challenge totals.
4. Students who change residences, leave the school, or do not provide the required information will not be eligible to have their energy data in the class data set but they may participate in the poster design contest.
5. Students who reside in residences that are not individually metered are not eligible to be counted as participants in the Home Energy Challenge data collection activity but they may participate in the Energy Plan and Poster Contest.
6. Students who are not eligible to be participants in the Home Energy Challenge may still benefit from participation in the optional energy savings Plan/Poster Contest and the Energy Fitness Award.

Program Definitions

General Conditions For Participation Verification of Potential Winners

 

AHEEC Support Desk: 1-855-JOULES1 (1-855-568-5371) or HomeEnergyChallenge@nsta.org

© 2011 The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the U.S. Department of Energy. All rights reserved. This program is under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with NSTA. NSTA is a not-for-profit organization with a mission of helping educators teach science.