UNC wins EPA energy contest http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/10/26/am-unc-wins-epa-energy-contest/ The Biggest Loser (of energy waste): UNC dormitory http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-26-the-biggest-loser-of-energy-waste-university-of-north-carolina National Building Competition: Energy Star http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=buildingcontest.index Green Building http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/ Green Guide for Everyday Living http://www.thegreenguide.com/ When the University of North Carolina goes head-to-head with their rival North Carolina State University it tends to be on one of the athletic fields of endeavor, or at least those are the competitions that garner the most headlines. Both schools received additional positive accolades this week as part of their finish in a "Biggest Loser" style competition sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. The competition was designed to see which commercial building could trim its energy use the most over 12 months, and the winner was the Morrison Residence Hall at UNC. The structure beat out a number of other contenders, including structures at North Carolina State University, a Sears store in Maryland, and the Virginia Beach Convention Center. During this period, Morrison Hall relied on some bread-and-butter modifications to effectively cut energy consumption by almost 36%, and as a result they cut almost $250,000 off their bills during this period. After a number of tweaks (including coaxing students to reduce their hot water usage in the laundry room), they were able to triumph in the contest. In a recent interview, the university's director of energy management, Chris Martin Jr. remarked, "The big lesson for us is that efforts need to include occupants as well as the maintenance personnel of buildings. Otherwise, eventually the savings will be lost." The first link will take visitors to a piece from the Wall Street Journal's Gwendolyn Bounds on the results of this recent energy contest. The second link leads to a profile of the contest results from National Public Radio's Marketplace program. Moving on, the third link leads to a post from The Grist's Jonathan Hiskes about the contest, which talks a bit about the winning energy project and the other entries. The fourth link leads to the official competition website, and it includes details on all the entries. The fifth link will take users to the EPA's "Green Building" site, which includes materials on the components of green building and a bit of a primer on why various parties should build green in the first place. The last link will take visitors to the National Geographic's Green Guide, which contains helpful tips and suggestions on how to live green everyday.