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In partnership with the District of Columbia’s Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) and the Institute for Better Communities (IFBC), SWA is implementing DC’s first multifamily housing energy and water challenge.

What is the POWER DOWN DC Challenge?

POWER DOWN DC is a 4 month building-to-building, education focused competition in Washington, DC with a goal of empowering  building residents and staff to change behavior and reduce overall energy and water usage. Residents compete as a building team against  other apartment buildings to hit a reduction target and strive to make the greatest overall  reduction. 

Driving Savings through Friendly Competition

The basic concept is simple: bringing people together for friendly competition is more likely to encourage meaningful action than simply providing information about energy and water efficiency alone. By joining the competition, participants try to reduce their own energy and water use and help members of their apartment community  do the same. Residents will be encouraged to make a commitment to efficiency and take simple steps every day that collectively will have a big payoff. Actions like turning off lights, fixing a leak, and taking shorter showers, multiplied across dozens of apartment units will have quick results. In DC, residential buildings make up 20% of total energy use and 23% of total water use.  If all multi-family residents take action, we can save 83,000,000 kilowatt hours (KWH)  of energy, 96,000,000 gallons of water, and $31, 400,000 dollars annually. Small steps = big savings. 

What are the goals?

1. Engage, educate, motivate, and empower residents to conserve resources in multifamily residential rental units in the District.  
2. Foster a culture of conservation within multifamily rental properties throughout the District.
3. Achieve measurable reductions in electricity and water use, working toward the District’s Sustainable DC Plan goals.

Meet the Challenge

Buildings will compete against their own baseline and against the other buildings in the competition.  Each building that makes a 5% reduction in energy and a 5% reduction in water will be considered a winner. If pride, cost savings, environmental benefits and educational opportunities aren’t enough, we added a few other incentives. The building that makes the largest percent reductions will additionally be recognized as the POWER DOWN DC Challenge Champion.  

Interested in supporting or getting involved in a unique way?

We’re looking for partners who can provide incentives and funding in exchange for an opportunity to showcase your involvement with this innovative approach to tackling energy and water use.

Contact Us: info@powerdowndc.com

Together we can be part of making the  District one of the  healthiest and  greenest cities  and in the Nation!

In the meantime, check us out at powerdowndc.com and follow us on Facebook facebook.com/powerdowndc and  Twitter @powerdowndc #POWERDOWNDC #EnergyandWaterChallenge