SSU Students Launch First-Ever Sustainability Dashboard to Track Campus Utility Use
Over the past year, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science students at Sonoma State University have collaborated with campus staff and industry partners to design and develop the university’s first Sustainability Dashboard. Fully developed by students for students, the dashboard provides an accessible and engaging way to view energy, water, and gas consumption across the SSU campus.
The project was spearheaded by a team of faculty in the Engineering & Computer Science Department and was a joint effort with Roger W. Hess, Energy Project Manager, and Jennifer Sanchez Biedermann, Campus Sustainability Manager, both part of Sonoma State’s Facility team. Students also collaborated with SitelogIQ, a company that provides energy efficiency and facility improvement services to CSU campuses. Financial support for the project was provided through the F. Korbel Brothers, Inc. Wine Industry Fellowship.
The dashboard’s primary goal is to raise awareness of how utilities are consumed on campus and to empower the SSU community to participate in sustainability efforts. By providing daily data on electricity, water, and natural gas usage, the platform not only enables students to make informed choices about their own energy footprint, but also serves as a powerful teaching tool across a variety of disciplines.
"Receiving daily campus utility data and making it accessible to the campus was our first step," explained Dr. Roya Salek Shahrezaie, the Computer Science faculty advisor to the project. "Our next step is to get more students involved. We want to encourage engagement by gamifying the platform. Through an app, students could ‘adopt’ a building each month and work together to reduce its energy use. We’re excited to see how this could impact overall campus utility consumption."
Dr. Farid Farahmand, faculty in the Electrical Engineering Department, added: "The Sustainability Dashboard represents a major step forward in SSU’s commitment to energy awareness and student-led innovation. By merging technical expertise with campus-based learning, the project not only contributes to real sustainability outcomes but also fosters classroom community and interdisciplinary collaboration."
The SSU Energy Sustainability Dashboard is available online. The team is currently pursuing additional funding to expand the project, including hiring more student developers and installing an interactive display on campus so that students can directly experience and engage with the platform.