The Building Dashboard

With U.S. buildings consuming 2/3 of electricity generation and contributing up to 36% of greenhouse gases, its easy to see importance of conservation and sustainable behavior. Connecting building occupants to their energy use can be challenging, but a hands-on, high-tech solution has yielded consumption reductions of 10-56%. The Building Dashboard is a "web-based display technology that provides real-time feedback on resource use and helps us to improve the environmental performance of buildings." The Building Dashboard allows you to visualize consumption real time and over extended periods. It also converts consumption of electricity and water into more tangible measurements like dollars, pounds of CO₂ , trees, and other equivalents.

A Building Dashboard will be installed in Storey House this year.

For more information visit the Lucid Design Group.

Vanquish Energy Vampires...Use a Smart Strip!

Some of your appliances are consuming energy even when they're turned off, in stand-by mode! This often unforeseen drain on resources is called "vampire energy" or "phantom plug loads." These cost U.S. consumers more than $4 Billion annually, or for a single household, approximately the amount of a month's electricity bill. Learn more by watching this:

Luckily there are things you can do!

• Minimize plug load demand: Choose Energy Star appliances when purchasing. They'll help you reduce utility costs.
• Plug your appliances (printer, cell phone charger, microwave, lamp, computer) into a power strip and "Flip the Switch" off when you leave the room.
• Use a Smart Strip that allows you to keep an lamps or clocks always "hot" or plugged in but others shut off at the same time! The key is an appliance (computer, TV) plugged into the "control" switch that activates your peripherals. When you turn that one on, your peripheral appliances will be energized and ready for use!

The Green Campus Program piloted Smart Strips in Chi Theta Chi last May and after demonstrating a 15% reduction in electricity use, they are being piloted in Branner Hall in hopes of getting Student Housing to distribute them to all future Freshmen.

Dining in the Daylight

Have you seen this logo around the seven Stanford Dining halls?
The Dining in the Daylight campaign, first launched in Spring 2008, continues this Fall Quarter in Stanford Dining. Dining in the Daylight promotes electricity conservation by urging students to take advantage of the available daylight so that lights can be kept off until 6:30 PM.

Did you know:

• Sunlight has been proven to increase productivity, to facilitate learning, and to therapeutically benefit wellness?
• This conservation effort affected at least 1,013 lamps, can annually save nearly 21,000 kWh, and cut demand by 22kW?
• More than 3,600 students, faculty, and staff pass through Dining Halls daily? By utilizing daylight smartly, they are experiencing conservation without deprivation - an important part of institutionalizing sustainability.

Click to learn more about Dining's Sustainability efforts in Conservation.

The Green Campus Program is now online!

Welcome to the official blog of the Stanford Green Campus Program, an online edition of the Green Campus Currents! You can now keep up with the SGCP's activities in energy efficiency, conservation, and education, in real time. Features to look out for:

• Posts: Read through the blog to learn about what we're doing around campus to make our community more energy efficient, conscious and sustainable.

• Join the Alliance: We'll keep an updated list of energy-saving tips you can do at home and work to Save Energy and promote energy efficiency.

• Links: Visit our sponsors to learn about their efforts on energy, climate change, and sustainability.

Email our five interns at stanfordgreencampus@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for possible projects!