America’s Greenest Campus

In 2009, SmartPower used its research with echo boomers – people born between 1982 and 1995 – to create America’s Greenest Campus, which quickly became the nation’s largest and most successful on-campus energy efficiency campaign. More than 20,000 students at 465 colleges and universities participated, reducing their collective carbon footprint by 19 million pounds and creating $4.52 million in energy cost savings.

A sophisticated web platform, developed by Efficiency 2.0, provided personal energy saving recommendations and tracked both individual and collective progress. Viral and social marketing drove participation, while endorsements by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and Internet phenom Obama Girl (above) widened the program’s reach. And prizes – $5,000 for each of two winning schools, and $10,000 for the winning entry in an Energy Smart Ad Contest – encouraged campuses to rally around energy use reduction.

In 2010, America’s Greenest Campus was awarded a Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To learn more about America’s Greenest Campus, and how its program elements can be scaled to encourage energy efficiency in your agency or organization, contact Marissa Newhall or visit www.americasgreenestcampus.com.