A campus energy conservation group saved electricity in its own way in a concert Thursday night.

Though crews had set up speakers and a microphone for the event, nobody used them. To conserve energy, the concert held in the Kentucky Building was completely acoustic.

Shelby Haun, a recent WKU graduate, said it’s a great thing to promote saving energy.

“I think if everyone put a little effort toward the cause that we’d really make a difference,” Haun said.

The cause is PowerSave Campus, a program through the Alliance to Save Energy. The campaign promotes energy conservation through energy audits, retrofits and engaging university communities, according to the national campaign’s website.

Bowling Green senior Ashley McCloughan, team manager and event organizer, said academic infusion is part of the goal.

“Any sort of contact we can have with professors and students in the classroom, or any teaching experience that we can have is good,” McCloughan said.

Part of that contact with the university involves a contest among WKU, Berea College, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville to reduce energy use on the college campuses.

The concert featured local acts, such as Buffalo Rodeo, Morgan Ison and Three People.

Louisville senior Austin Warren, of Three People, said they were approached about playing an acoustic show.

“That’s always a lot of fun, so I thought we’d play unplugged — get a message out about conserving energy,” Warren said.

Organizers were also pleasantly surprised with the number of people attending the event.

Mary Newton, project coordinator, said she was glad to see people interested in the music. 

“Hopefully, we can spread our message as PowerSave interns,” Newton said.

She added that the concert was a way to reach out to more people and spread awareness of the energy-conserving program.

“We feel like this is a new opportunity to reach out to a new group of people — a different group of people,” she said.