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

Sara-Katherine Coxon Sustainability Coordinator Stanford University Sustainable Stanford: Dual Approach for Building a Culture of Sustainability

Infrastructure & Systems Education & Practice

ENERGY ANALYSIS

WATER CONSERVATION

WASTE EVALUATION

TRANSPORTATION COMMUNICATION

BUILDINGS EDUCATION 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 Winter Closure Performance: Results

Students Students move out move back in

December 2017 - January 2018

December 2016 - January 2017 Winter Closure Performance: Results

Student Dorm Energy Challenge:

5 days of canvassing

43 volunteers

15% decrease in electricity use in buildings that were covered

12% decrease in hot water use

$1,500 paid in incentives

$15,627 in energy savings Winter Closure Performance: Results

Cardinal Green Buildings Campaign:

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

9 Winter Closure Performance: Lessons & Looking Ahead

. 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