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Today, many UNH buildings qualify for EPA's vaunted Energy Star rating. Last year, three UNH dorms—Congreve, Lord and McLaughlin—were the first dorms in the nation to receive an Energy Star rating after students in professor Ihab Farag's chemical engineering class, Energy and the Environment, took up the challenge of measuring how much energy the buildings use and how much pollution they generate. "It's critical to know how much you are using and where," says Dombrosk, who oversees an ongoing inventory for the entire university.

Another cost-saving scheme Dombrosk employs involves varying the amount of air that is moved, heated or cooled according to the time of day and the number of people using a particular building. "You can save so much with today's energy costs," he says, "that it makes it possible to pay off the cost of putting in the technology pretty quickly."

The same thing goes for lighting. When engineering students haunt the labs and computer clusters of renovated Kingsbury Hall, working late into the night, sensors and smart breakers follow them, clicking lights on and off to provide light only where it's needed. Control systems like this, combined with other energy-efficient building measures, save UNH $4 million annually.

Back in the residence halls, the energy captains continue their crusade to make every student on campus aware of the work of Jim Dombrosk and his team, to help students understand the importance of these efforts, and, ultimately, to join the larger UNH energy-saving team.

"I've been going door-to-door and there has been a great response," says energy captain Lena Collins, who was nervous at first about facing upperclassmen. "They are kind of set in their ways," she says, "and energy is really a personal thing—taking showers and blow drying your hair. We're pushing people out of their comfort zone."

"That's why they call it a challenge," says Liz Joseph '08, who has been cultivating awareness through a variety of tactics: signs in the hall with Did you know...? facts followed by What can you do...? suggestions, and leading by example. "Everything from riding my bike, to what purchases I make, to how long I shower, to engaging in conversation about why I make these choices."

In a semester abroad in New Zealand last spring, Collins encountered sustainable living. "They encouraged us to take fewer showers, hang our clothes on the line and cut back on computer time. They really enforced energy consciousness. I've tried to keep those things in my life back here," she says. "You can turn off your computer—life will go on. And I don't blow dry my hair anymore at all."

Both Joseph and Collins see a growing awareness on campus. More and more people agree with the idea that what they do as individuals is important to the welfare of the whole community. And they give the university credit for creating this kind of awareness. "If each of us does our small share, as part of the collective whole," says Joseph, "then we will do great things."

Bill Burtis is the communications manager at Clean Air-Cool Planet in Portsmouth, N.H.

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