Washington University’s annual Green Cup competition is only halfway over, but the organizers are already seeing a noticeable difference in students’ energy consumption on campus.

The competition, which has two categories—residential life and Greek life—already has frontrunners. The Lee/Beau residential college is the frontrunner in the South 40 category, with a 21-percent decrease in energy use. Sigma Chi is the frontrunner in the Greek life division with a 14-percent decrease.

Other high-ranking competitors include the William Greenleaf Eliot residential college, with a 14-percent decrease, the HIG residential college with a 13-percent decrease, and the Beta Theta Pi and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternities.

The competition is in its second year. Last year Sigma Chi won in the fraternity league with a 16.5-percent overall decrease in its energy consumption. JKL won in the South 40 league with a 12.2-percent decrease.

The competition expanded to the North Side this year, where Millbrook is leading with a 9-percent decrease.

According to Melissa Freilich, a junior who interns for the Office of Sustainability, the percent changes are based on a baseline measurement taken before the competition started.

“Last year the biggest number was Sig Chi. We know they can go lower, but they are doing really well so far,” Freilich said.

Sustainability Coordinator Will Fischer says that the competitive format of the event encourages students to be more sustainable.

“I think people see it as a good message and an important one. When they’re aware of it, they participate in it, and that’s what we’re seeing this year. We’ve managed to make it fun,” he said. “The Green Cup is one of the best messages we can communicate. The cause it promotes as a University is very important for us.”

According to Fischer, the competition is part of the Office of Sustainability’s ongoing effort to reduce the University’s energy consumption to the level it was at in 1990.

Freilich hopes that students will continue to decrease their energy consumption for the next two weeks of the competition.

“We really hope that people don’t stop one half [of the] way through, and that these standings only cause them to work harder. This is only halfway through the competition so it could still change completely,” Freilich said.

Students cut back on their energy consumption by turning off their lights and unplugging power cords when they are not in use, according to Freilich.

She hopes students will continue to cut back on their energy consumption even after the competition is over.

“When we start to think about them we realize there’s no reason to only do these things in February, and hopefully we can go in and continue to reduce our energy usage as a university,” Freilich said.