An eco-feedback system for improving the sustainability performance of universities

This work deals with a feedback system based on the ecological footprint calculation for improving the sustainabilty related behavior of universiies. It is based on the potential for improvement that can be unleashed by a detailed knowledge of the environmental performance of the institution. The system integrates data managed by different administrative units at the university (economic data, energy consumption, built area,...) and collected by different sensors. In particular, this work concentrates on the implementation of a portable and easy to install and use HCI tool. The objectives of the tool are to track the ecological footprint of the institution, provide indications on potential fields of ecological improvement, suggest actions for achieving these improvements and permit following their effects. It calculates the environmental impact in terms of a single number (ecological footprint) to make things simpler for users, but it also provides the possibility of graphical insights into more detailed data which are quite valuable for decision makers. The interactivity of the graphical information permits quantifying the effect of hypothetical changes and offers a list of possible actions to reduce the impact for a selected factor. Finally, the tool allows the comparison of the results obtained by the same organization over different time periods and the comparison among universities.