In recent years, schools have been forced by rising costs and shrinking budgets to stretch their resources further than ever before in order to meet the educational needs of today's students. EPA's ENERGY STAR program helps K-12 schools and districts improve energy efficiency, reduce operating costs and redirect critical resources into the classroom. Many schools and districts are finding that an ENERGY STAR energy efficiency competition, supported by the no-cost tools provided by ENERGY STAR, is an effective and compelling way to jumpstart energy efficiency and encourage the entire school community to get involved in smart energy management. In this article, the authors discuss how to launch an Energy Star energy efficiency competition for K-12 schools.