UM Uses Smart Meters, Twitter To Provide Energy-Use Updates

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olemissfacebookThe University of Mississippi plans to reduce campus power consumption with the recent installation of smart meters at 16 of the school's buildings to monitor, analyze, and report on energy utilization. The school will publish daily energy updates for the general public using Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds.

The program is part of UM's "Red, Blue and Green" campaign. Once registered at www.olemiss.edu/green, students, faculty, building administrators, and others will be able to access UM's smart meter data and receive updates on UM's energy usage.

The University is already monitoring  Lyceum, the John Davis Williams Library, the Gillom Sports Complex, and some other facilities, Cnet reports.

The university has partnered with SmartSynch, a smart grid infrastructure company based in Jackson, Miss. SmartSynch's SmartMeters will enable UM to monitor energy consumption, track building power performance over time, compare building energy usage, and review the impact of the weather on energy utilization while reducing its carbon footprint. By using an online dashboard tool, UM will track each building's energy consumption in real-time and archive data for future analysis and comparisons.

"We know that energy users reduce the unnecessary use of lighting, appliances, climate control and other devices when they have access to immediate energy consumption data," says Stephen Johnston, SmartSynth's chief executive officer. "By installing SmartSynch SmartMeters across campus and leveraging social networks, UM will unlock this power-saving function."

Environment + Energy Leader