Data-Driven Messaging for Groups and Individuals: Cardinal Green Buildings

Sara-Katherine CoxonSustainability CoordinatorStanford University

Infrastructure & Systems

BUILDINGS

TRANSPORTATION

WASTE

WATER

ENERGY

EDUCATION

COMMUNICATION

EVALUATION

CONSERVATION

ANALYSIS

Education & Practice

Sustainable Stanford: Dual Approach for Building a Culture of Sustainability

Driving Action Through Data

Seasonal Conservation Campaigns:

• Winter Closure (energy)• RecycleMania (waste)• WaterWise (water)• Give and Go (waste)

Winter Closure Campaign

Cardinal Green Buildings Campaign Goals

• Expand engagement with and participation from building managers, staff, and students

• Leverage building performance data to mobilize occupants

• Increase energy savings

Engagement pathways

Existing Opportunities:

• Internal Building Sustainability Dashboards rate performance and identify improvement areas for 135 campus buildings

• My Cardinal Green platform encourages and rewards individual sustainability actions

How can we broadcast and leverage these tools to activate the Stanford community around conservation?

Engagement pathways

Step 1: Gamify My Cardinal Green Engagement for building managers• Managers participate through the platform• High-stakes raffle for taking key steps to engage

occupants

Step 2: Dispatch students to help drive messaging in dorms through a Dorm Energy Challenge• 43 students canvassed door-to-door at seven of

Stanford’s largest residences the week before Break• Peer-to-peer messages and physical checklists were

more effective at driving action than emails– Quantify individual contributions to show magnitude of savings– Raise My Cardinal Green brand awareness by linking reminder

notes to the platform

December 2017 - January 2018

December 2016 - January 2017

Winter Closure Performance: Results

Students move out

Students move back in

5 days of canvassing

43 volunteers

15% decrease in electricity use in buildings that were covered

12% decrease in hot water use

$15,627 in energy savings

$1,500 paid in incentives

Student Dorm Energy Challenge:

Winter Closure Performance: Results

9

166 academic buildings participated

1,045 metric tons of CO2 avoided

$432,000 total cost savings

$4.4 million in total savings since program inception

Cardinal Green Buildings Campaign:

Winter Closure Performance: Results

Build on partnerships to magnify reach and impact Host a hackathon with student energy group to identify even more ways to reach students where

they’re at

Explore creative incentive opportunities High savings associated with energy conservation open up doors for new incentive structures

Showcase your data Infographics, personalized checklists, and other data visuals can make your messages “stick” more

than a list of numbers of block of text

Winter Closure Performance: Lessons & Looking Ahead