A central challenge of our time is sustaining the world’s developing population while minimizing damage to the environment. The Campus as a Lab (CaaL) Initiative uses Chicago’s own campus as a test bed for creating innovative solutions and developing skills in analyzing systems of energy and resource flows. CaaL involves education in quantitative environmental analysis, research into practical management strategies, and communication that explains our campus and environment. Projects reflect our core values: data-driven and quantitative analysis, implementable solutions, and open-source tools and data.
What is Campus as a Lab?
Who: undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and Facilities staff working in collaboration.
When: ongoing, launched in Spring 2016 and featuring 4 core events in 2016-2017
What: data hackathons, events, internships and opportunities to be involved in research on campus energy, water, food, waste and more. Focus areas include operation of campus facilities and infrastructure, economics of U Chicago’s energy purchases, building retrofit suggestions, transportation planning, and behavioral incentives.
How to Get Involved
Upcoming Campus as a Lab Activities
- Winter 2017: Seth Darling: Invisible Water and a Path to a Sustainable Water Future
- Spring 2017: Zero-Waste Campus Athletics
- Summer 2017: CaaL Internship Program
- Campus Energy Tours
Past Events
- Spring 2016: Hackathon, Orientation to Energy Use on Campus
- Fall 2016: Hackathon, Energy Use and Building Control