Art: The Campus Energy Constellation

A 2020 art installation portrays the University’s energy usage as an array of stars.

Conducted as part of the Pitt Honors College Creative Arts Fellowship during the Summer 2020, The Campus Energy Constellation is a dynamic light installation that portrays the University’s energy usage as an array of stars. The focus and goal of this project is to physicalize the environmental impact of the University community, in an effort to promote transparency in the University’s community on the matters of environmentalism ad operations. Installed in Pitt’s Hillman Library for the 2020-21 academic year, The Campus Energy Constellation piece is comprised of 84 lights (each representing a building owned and operated by the University of Pittsburgh) hung from the ceiling of a darkened enclosure to mimic a clear night sky. Each star is programmed to change in brightness corresponding to the energy usage of its respective building.  This project was guides by Pitt’s Office of Sustainability and grew from a Summer Undergraduate Sustainability Research project funded by Pitt’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Development (and supported by Pitt’s Facilities Management).

The Campus Energy Constellation was envisioned and created by Jonathan (Jono) Coles (SSOE ’20), who also led creation of the Pitt Sustainability Dashboard.

Learn more: https://pitthonors.blog/2020/05/19/introduction-the-campus-energy-constellation/