IT Open House 2008

Sustainability Contest

The Sustainability Contest

The Sustainability Contest ran October 10-17. The winners were announced at the IT Open House on October 23. Thanks to all who contributed their ideas! Follow the links to read all the entries.

The contest ran Friday, October 10 through Friday, October 17, ending at 5:00 p.m. The Sustainable IT group judged entries and announced the winner in each category—plus the Readers' Choice winners—at the IT Open House.

2 categories and 2 judgings = 4 winners in all. All four won a $50 gift certificate to Stanford Bookstore. Congratulations to the four winners, plus two honorable mentions:

WINNERS, CONTEST 1: What is my department or group doing now for sustainability?

  • Sustainable IT Judges Winner:
    Entry 3
    Jonathon Lee, Computer Support Technician, Facilities Operations
  • Sustainable IT Judges Honorable Mention:
    Entry 2
    Mary Jeanne Oliva, Student Services Officer, Biomedical Informatics Program
  • Readers' Choice Winner:
    Entry 8
    Necki Goble, Computing Info Systems Analyst, School of Med IRT

WINNERS, CONTEST 2 - What can my department or group do to ensure a sustainable future for Stanford?

  • Sustainable IT Judges Winner:
    Entry 12
    Name: Kristina Smith. Manager, Maps and Records
  • Sustainable IT Judges Honorable Mention:
    Entry 26
    Jeremy Faludi, Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering - Design
  • Readers' Choice:
    Entry 14
    Name: Maria Petersen, Admin Asst. Department of Biochemistry

Judging criteria

The Sustainable IT group will evaluate each entry using five criteria:

Criterionexample
Broadest impactNumber of people affected, number of buildings, replicability among departments, number of workstations affected
QuantifiablePounds of CO2, KW hours, dollars
InnovativeUnique, applies or relates to new technology, results in behavior change
Feasible/practicalease of implementation
Return on investmentCost-effective, cost of implementation vs benefits, cost of ownership

Here are some examples, to get you started thinking:

  • An entry for Category 1 might be "My department implemented BigFix power management."
  • An entry for Category 2 might be "My department could take the 15 servers we have running in the broom closet and move those to a sustainable data center when that facility becomes available." OR "Replace desk chairs with bikes to power pc's."

Since Category 2 involves conjecture, it can be more free-wheeling.

Three more things:

  • Although we ask for your name and email so that we can contact you if you win, we won't post them with your entry on the web site. Your name will be associated with your entry only if you win, and then it will be announced at the Open House event.
  • Entries will be posted in the order in which they arrive, and we won't post duplicates—so post your idea early!
  • Even if your entry involves something you or your department has been doing for quite some time, you can still share it; in other words, it doesn't have to be a brand-new idea.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your ideas with us!