Intro:
McGill recently launched an energy management system, based on Pulse, that integrated with each of its building’s energy systems (water, electricity, steam, etc.). While part of the project was aimed at allowing the university’s staff to better manage campus energy consumption, the community-facing goal was to increase awareness and engagement in energy consumption on campus.
Challenge:
Build an energy dashboard intended for student residence buildings to inform residents of current energy consumption and consumption trends and build community and awareness around best practices for reducing energy consumption for life both in residence and in future housing.
Work:
Two student researchers studying sustainability and engineering completed the research for EnGage. As an extension of The Engineering Network, I developed a new AIR-based client to display energy consumption and trends in different residence buildings with content and interface elements based on the earlier completed research. The client also displays best practices for reducing energy consumption in residence and messages from building staff. After building the first implementation, the project is now undergoing its second design iteration based on extreme user interviews and other user studies. I have also been tasked with creating installations for all other McGill residences currently on the Pulse system and with creating demos to add to existing digital signage locations in cafeterias and residence lobbies powered by other digital signage platforms (Cisco and VivaGo).
