By Linda Perry
I’ve never been accused of being a numbers person, but even I think this is “wicked awesome.” UK and its partners have pulled together a way to show how much energy that buildings on campus are consuming daily. The neat thing is that this information is available to the public via a website, as well as touch-screen kiosks around campus and a mobile version for tablets and smart phones.
The website is called Empowered and is accessible to everyone with a computer. It’s a real-time energy dashboard where you can select different buildings on campus and compare their energy usage. For example, I checked on Haggin Hall. Its electrical usage at 8:25 a.m. is 1.38 watts/square feet, while the Ralph G. Anderson Building is using 3.24 watts/square feet. One’s a residence hall (in early morning students are either sleeping or leaving the building) and the other is for classrooms/offices (in the early morning students arrive for classes and employees for work).
The website also includes educational material and videos to help raise our “energy IQ” and make us more aware of conservation.
UK started looking into its energy usage about two years ago. Although Empowered was created primarily by the UK Office of Sustainability, Ameresco, and Yonder Interactive Neighborhoods, the whole effort included many entities like the Office of University Capital Projects and the UK Energy Club, a student group. Learn more about other offices and people involved in the project and how this will help UK. Then visit Empowered — but I warn you — it can be somewhat addictive!
