Southampton blackout – a new beginning

The month of October has begun with a bang with the beginning of yet another year for the students at the University, some new and full of enthusiasm and some old and seasoned. I have gone through the posts of Robin, Florence and Jo and am sure one can get the perspective of students… students who have spent just a year getting used to the Uni and the surroundings, students who have spent two long years and are ready to take the plunge into the final and deciding year and finally the students who have spent a lifetime (three years) at the Uni.

But then there are students like me who have spent just a year at the University as a masters student but did experience the zeal and vivacity of a first year Fresher in the first few months, and also the stress and apprehensions tied up with course work and group projects like a second year student setting up goals and making plans to achieve them and finally like a final year student at the Uni have gone through the lull before the storm during the dissertation phase mixed with the separation anxieties of going away from my best buddies and feelings of concern about the future. In short, a masters student goes through everything in a year that one would go through during their stay for three years at the University and that is what makes your life even more exciting, yet challenging.

Presently I am taking a much deserved break back home in India post submission of my dissertation two weeks back. I am missing all the fun and frolic back in Southampton during the welcome month. However, a break was indeed needed after the stormy month of September which comprised of hours and hours spent in front of the laptop writing and proofreading in pursuit of chasing the deadline for submission. This is also a phase of consolidation – time spent to take stock of the future course of action before you get the results of your hard work.

Going through my inbox a couple of days back, I found an email regarding the much acclaimed “Southampton Blackout” event held this April. I had participated in this event and as I read the message, my thoughts were transported back to the month of April when I had received a similar email asking for students to participate in the event. As a student of MSc Sustainable Energy Technologies in Engineering and the Environment, words like sustainability and energy efficiency were not new to me. I  applied for participation in the event and was lucky to get selected.

The event was conducted on Friday 27 April 2012 and aimed at conducting an exhaustive energy audit of the University. The exercise involved around 200 students who were divided into various groups under supervision of University staff and were allocated specific buildings. The idea behind the drive was to turn off all the unessential electrical equipment across all the buildings in the Highfield campus of the University, however taking caution not to hamper any essential work or research being conducted. After the exercise, a survey was conducted to find out the energy wasted over a weekend due to the wasteful expenditure of electricity on unessential items. This was the first of its kind of student-run drive being conducted in a University across the globe and the stakes were obviously high.

We were thoroughly briefed by Dr Simon Kemp, the brains behind the event in a packed auditorium full of students and staff who had gathered for a singular cause of sustainability in the campus. My team comprised of four other students and a staff member and we were allocated the Management Building – 54. The exercise seemed quite easy in the beginning as we entered every room and ensured all unessential electrical items were switched off and also taking note of all items left on. However, as time progressed and after a couple of hours into the exercise, we were really tired. Once we had thoroughly covered the building and cross-checked our sheets that we had compiled, and as we returned to building 7, the main HQ of the exercise, we were quite happy souls, content and proud of our contribution to this mammoth task.

Student volunteers turning off unessential electrical equipment

After a blissful treat of pizza, the students were thanked by the organisers for their wholehearted co-operation and also for ensuring that no untoward incident had occurred during the event. As for the results, they were nothing less than overwhelming. A 6% energy reduction over the weekend saved 7 tonnes of carbon and 16000 kWh of energy – enough to power 5 homes for a year and in terms of economics – a reduction of £1,600 over the weekend which would translate to £84,000 over a year.

Results of Southampton Blackout event

We even received a congratulatory email from the Vice-Chancellor on a successful Southampton Blackout event in keeping with the sustainability agenda of the University. For me personally, it was definitely a high point of my stay at the University, which I really enjoyed taking part in and which gave me an opportunity to stand up for a cause. The opportunities are a little too many – and Freshers - you just need to keep your eyes and ears open.

Rohit