Haverford College unveils online dashboard for reducing energy use

A new Haverford College website tracks energy usage at 14 campus buildings — and advocates at the Main Line school hope it will drive energy usage down, according to Haverford’s sustainability blog.

“It’s impossible to substantively reduce energy use, without first knowing how much energy we use,” said student David Robinson, who sits on the college’s Committee on Environmental Responsibility.

The school installed special meters in each building to track energy usage, according to the report.

“It’s easy to go about your day and not really think about where the heat and electricity for the buildings on campus comes from,” said Robinson. “The Dashboard makes it very clear, and it will help students be more thoughtful every time they leave on their lights, or plug in their computer over night.”

Organizations are turning to data and transparency in an attempt to decrease energy consumption, like the City of Philadelphia‘s new energy benchmarking law that requires large buildings to report their energy usage.