Hackathon: Campus Total Energy Usage And Building Control

In 2015, the 160 campus buildings and grounds used $40 million worth of energy (electricity + natural gas). Come see where and why – help improve our understanding of campus energy usage and increase energy efficiency.

Building optimization is a major factor in understanding and improving campus energy efficiency. To optimize the performance of the 160 campus buildings requires facilities staff to balance electricity and natural gas usage, chillers and steam plant operation, lights, ventilation, air conditioning, heating performance, water usage and building occupancy and weather information. This data is siloed in multiple separate monitoring and control systems containing thousands of sensors.

After an introduction by Daniel Diermeier, University Provost, the first portion of this event will orient participants with the physical campus and how it uses energy, is monitored, controlled. Subject-matter experts will introduce participants to basic concepts of energy, building automation systems, data visualization and energy efficiency. After orientation, participants will select from a series of challenges and compete to identify features in campus data or propose new designs for tools that could be developed to improve our understanding of campus energy usage and increase energy efficiency. Mentors will be on hand for questions and collaboration.

This is part of the Campus as a Lab initiative. It is organized in partnership with the University of Chicago Office of the Provost , UChicagoSustainability, UChicago Facilities, and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. More here.