Neighborly competition
Residents in 3 communities try to outdo each other in the Energy Smackdown
(Josh Reynolds Photo for The Boston Globe)
Alexsis Rabkin (center), Eloise Botka (left), and Joshua Nolan play in a recycling bin before a Cambridge event promoting the Energy
Smackdown.
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When Sarah Cluggish and her husband, Jason, noticed their family's energy bill rising last year, they took the fight to Tumbler, El Oso, Ten Pin, and Boss Stoutmore, as well as two other families from Medford, where they live.
The end result for the family, which participated in the inaugural season of a program called Energy Smackdown, was a handful of lifestyle changes and significant savings on their energy bills.
"Last winter, when everyone was freaking out about high energy bills, I didn't see that much of a difference," Sarah Cluggish said.
That even after she gave birth to the couple's second child and opted to stay home, which normally would increase home heating costs.
Now in its second season, Energy Smackdown is a program developed by the BrainShift Foundation, a Medford-based nonprofit.
It pits families against one another in good-natured competition in hopes of increasing awareness and reducing each family member's carbon footprint. Last year three families from Medford squared off against each other in the contest, which is taped and shown on local cable. This year BrainShift expanded the contest to Arlington, Cambridge, and Medford, where 10 families from each community will compete.
"It's not enough to just tell people about this stuff," said Donald Kelley, BrainShift's president and chief executive. "There's a lot of confusion - people in this culture have so many things coming at them, and we're trying to remove some of those barriers."
The competition is divided into a series of conservation-related goals each household must achieve to advance to the contest's next level.
These range from getting a home energy audit, to increasing the amount of materials they recycle, to purchasing 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.
BrainShift has also assigned characters - such as El Oso and Ten Pin - to represent each challenge, and they serve as cartoon villains who must be defeated before contestants can move on.
The families are scored based on the reduction in greenhouse gases they achieve, which BrainShift counts by measuring their electricity and fuel consumption, air and car travel, and garbage production. They go so far as to weigh their weekly trash barrels.
Families are also asked to recruit friends and neighbors in hopes of expanding Energy Smackdown's reach.
For the Cluggish family, changes included insulating their home and Jason Cluggish's decision to bike the five miles to work in South Boston - which turned out to be quicker than driving or taking the T.
But the family didn't stop when the competition ended last August; when they had their second child, they switched to cloth diapers.
"Last year, all of our friends were saying 'I bet you can't wait for it to be over,' " Sarah Cluggish said. "What we learned, though, is that making these changes is a lot easier than people think. They aren't a huge inconvenience. It's just a matter of living a little differently."
The Cluggish family reduced its energy consumption by 69 percent, but the family still came in second in the Energy Smackdown when another family got 30 friends to switch to energy-saving lightbulbs late in the challenge.
The stakes, however, were not high - the losers prepared dinner for the winners and, keeping in the spirit of the competition, everyone brought their own plates and utensils to avoid using paper products.
Certain challenges are filmed and edited into reality-show-like segments, which are aired on local public access stations.
"Most people involved in this are inclined to do things like this, but this lights a fire under you to do it sooner, rather than later," said Scott Smith, cocaptain of the Arlington team.
For his family's contribution, Smith is considering adding a solar hot water heater and is preparing to insulate his home after receiving a free energy audit from the Conservation Services Group, one of Energy Smackdown's backers.
Smith said he would not have known that such an audit, as well as a rebate on energy-saving upgrades, was available if he had not signed on to the program.
"One of the biggest benefits has been being able to share ideas with other people," said Smith, 43. "These are pretty big problems for the average person to solve. When you're considering these upgrades, it's not always easy to see where you'll get the biggest bang for your buck."
Kelley said most of the biggest reductions come from the contestants simply changing habits - grouping errands into one trip, for example - rather than making expensive investments in new equipment. Out-of-pocket costs were either not substantial - replacing an old refrigerator with an energy-efficient unit - or came with a rebate that lowered their portion of the bill - insulating the house.
All those purchases, he added, had relatively short payback periods, too.
BrainShift gets its funding in grants from energy firms
The program reminds users to turn down the thermostat, take shorter showers, and focus on inexpensive air-sealing projects.
"Last season one family felt like they weren't doing much, but they still reduced their energy consumption by 36 percent," Kelley said. "And we've followed up with the families from the inaugural season and found that they're still doing most of the things they were doing a year ago."
The current season of Energy Smackdown started in May and ends in November. For Smith, the challenge is making the 138-year-old house he shares with his wife and two daughters more energy efficient.
"I think we all want to win, but the important thing is showing people how it can be done in a way that makes sense for the average person," said Smith. "These things save people money - everything I'm doing will put money in my pocket."
