Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney, North Dakota State University assistant professor of architecture Malini Srivastava, Cass County Electric Cooperative CEO Marshal Albright, and Uwe Brandes, executive director of the Georgetown University Energy Prize, are shown here Monday, 18 December 2017 after Fargo was named the winner of a $5 million prize in a two-year, nationwide energy savings competition. Kim Hyatt / The Forum (INFORUM)
Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture doctoral candidate Malini Srivastava, AIA, CPHC serves as the Project Lead of efargo, the group that won the Georgetown University Energy Prize (GUEP) competition for the city of Fargo, North Dakota this past month. efargo is a partnership formed between the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University, and the city’s utility companies in order to enter GUEP, a two-year competition in which fifty cities across the United States take innovative actions in the way they understand, use, and plan energy use reduction.
Fargo was shortlisted as a top ten finalist in the GUEP competition this past year, ranking fourth in overall energy savings. The jury made the final determination of the winner based upon factors including innovation, replicability, scalability, community engagement, partnership formation, and long-term impact of the methods used to reduce energy consumption. Fargo’s approach to energy savings utilized gaming techniques and related data concepts honed and refined during Srivastava’s time at CMU, which were a major factor in the win.
The competition’s $5 million prize will be used to finance new sustainable energy projects in the community, said Srivastava in a statement following the win. She hopes to leverage the money to work toward a net-zero carbon future for the region.
Read the official press release from GUEP
Read the announcement on the City of Fargo website
About the Georgetown University Energy Prize
The Georgetown University Energy Prize aims to rethink America’s energy use by harnessing the ingenuity and community spirit of towns and cities all across America. From 2013-2017, the Prize has challenged small- to medium-sized towns, cities, and counties to rethink their energy use, and implement creative strategies to increase efficiency. Throughout the competition, local governments, residents, utilities, and other community leaders work together to demonstrate success in sustainably reducing energy consumption. For more information, visit www.guep.org.
About Malini Srivastava
Malini Srivastava is a Principal at DandElab, Assistant Professor of Architecture at North Dakota State University, the Project Lead at efargo, and a doctoral candidate at Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture. She previously served as a Fellow at the Bush Foundation from 2014-16.