ENERGY STAR® 2025 Battle of the Buildings
Congratulations to International House for winning both categories of the Autumn 2025 ENERGY STAR® Battle of the Buildings! They set a record by reducing water usage by 54.1% — and won for energy savings with a 3.9% reduction compared to their baseline!
Read more about the results and reactions from the winners.
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“I’d like to congratulate International House for not only maintaining their lead from the mid-competition reading but also nearly doubling their water reduction in the process! This consistently shows how possible it is to maintain reductions and lower overall usage.” – Campus Energy and Services Manager Kevin Keating
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“Special shout out to Snell Hitchcock for achieving a 26.9% reduction in water usage in the final week—up from a mid-competition reading of a 3.8% decrease! I’d also like to thank all the Sustainability Ambassadors in Housing for rallying their Houses to conserve more and educating students about conservation strategies. When we take the time to collaborate across campus, the results matter on behalf of the whole.” -Maureen McMahon, Office of Sustainability
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From October 14-28, 2025, six residence hall communities at the University of Chicago competed to conserve as much energy and water as possible!
Energy conservation not only provides financial savings but also reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provides educational opportunities for students and staff. Giving students the opportunity to learn about and engage in energy auditing and conservation practices contributes to the University’s goal to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.
Competitors
- Burton-Judson Courts
- Campus North Residential Commons
- International House
- Max Palevsky Residential Commons
- Renee Granville-Grossman
- Snell-Hitchcock
- Woodlawn Residential Commons (we apologize that due to lack of verifiable data for Woodlawn, reporting was not possible for the Autumn 2025 Battle)
The winning residence hall, determined by the greatest percent reduction in energy and water usage, gets an engraved award to display until the next competition.
Watch a video about the making of these Battle of the Building challenge trophies!
Defending Champions
In April 2025 Burton-Judson Courts reduced water usage by 7.6% and energy usage by 16.4%! See the final results.
View the What Students Can Do To Save Water and Energy poster.
View the 2025 Battle of the Buildings poster.
Final Results, Oct. 28
| Water Reduction | (Percent Change) | ||||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place | 5th Place | 6th Place |
| International House | Snell/Hitch | Burton-Judson Courts | Max Palevsky Residential Commons | Campus North Residential Commons | Renee Granville-Grossman |
| 54.1% decrease | 26.9% decrease | 15.2% decrease | 1.2% decrease | 0.4% increase | 7.8% increase |
| Electric Reduction | (Percent Change) | ||||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place | 5th Place | 6th Place |
| International House | Max Palevsky Residential Commons | Renee Granville-Grossman | Snell/Hitch | Campus North Residential Commons | Burton-Judson Courts |
| 3.9% decrease | 1.2% increase | 5.2% increase | 5.8% increase | 8.2% increase | 21.3% increase |
Mid-Competition Results, Oct. 21
| Water Reduction | (Percent Change) | ||||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place | 5th Place | 6th Place |
| International House | Burton-Judson Courts | Snell/Hitch | Max Palevsky Residential Commons | Campus North Residential Commons | Renee Granville-Grossman |
| 30.3% decrease | 16.5% decrease | 3.8% decrease | 1.7% decrease | 1.2% decrease | 8.7% increase |
| Electric Reduction | (Percent Change) | ||||
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place | 5th Place | 6th Place |
| International House | Snell/Hitch | Max Palevsky Residential Commons | Burton-Judson Courts | Campus North Residential Commons | Renee Granville-Grossman |
| 7.4% decrease | 0.3% increase | 1.9% increase | 4.2% increase | 7% increase | 7.8% increase |
What Students Can Do to Save Water and Energy
Keep your House/residence hall engaged in energy conservation:
- Vanquish energy vampires! Find electronics that use a lot of energy when they are plugged in, even when they are not turned on, like game consoles and printers, and unplug while not in use
- Turn-off unused lighting
- Reach for task lighting
- Use LED lighting
- Report water leaks in restrooms throughout the facility
- Enable the ENERGY STAR power management features on your computer and monitor so they go into power save mode when not in use
- Use a Smart Power Strip that cuts power off when devices are in standby mode
- Enable clean energy phone charging
- Full laundry loads, full dish loads
- Take the stairs
- If it’s charged or not in use, take time to unplug
- Report a room that’s too hot or too cold
- Skip the space heater that wastes energy
- Defrost freezer build up and shut the door quickly and completely
- Adjust your space for the season: cool off with blinds, set ceiling fans counter-clockwise in summer and clockwise in winter
- Turn off the water tap and don’t brush with running water
- Take shorter showers
- Post reminders to conserve energy. Having reminders near light switches and electronics will help people remember to turn off and unplug devices. Students can create their own reminder posters, flyers, note cards, or social media graphics. There are also graphics from the ENERGY STAR program.
Tell your school community about the conservation strategies for Battle of the Buildings on the ENERGYSTAR website. Having your whole community on board is the first step in successfully tackling energy reduction goals.
