I love interactive charts and maps. Especially the ones that allow real-time tracking of data.
There are flu trackers such as Google’s data-mapping of searches in relation to the swine flu. And there are energy tracking tools and carbon-footprint tracking tools.
Since we are in the business of letting employees track their eco actions and benchmark them against others in the organization, I like to look under the hood and see how other tracking tools empower users. Data is of little value unless you can map it, compare trends, look for blind spots, and ultimately use it to improve or change something. Without that interactive component it’s as helpful as a spreadsheet.
Take a look at this interactive Energy Usage Comparison Chart for cities in the US: You could enter a zip code and look at a score for the city’s carbon emissions and carbon footprint.
- I entering the zip code 78727 (for Austin, Texas) and it pulled up a variety of data points, including a bar-chart with a carbon footprint score of 10. (There’s a further break down of carbon use, in major sectors.)
- Entering the zip code 85287 (for Tempe, Arizona) brought up a carbon footprint score of 36, and so on. You could see the results here.
The footprint tracking business is so popular, there is even a footprint conference in 2010, in Italy (who wouldv’e thought!) where you could “Participate in scenario workshops that can help you identify robust strategies for your company, city, or country in resource-constrained future.” Details here.
Two more footprint trackers worth looking at:
- The Nature Conservancy — an online calculator that lets you track your energy consumption at home, your carbon footprint from flying and driving, from food consumption, and from recycling.
- Arizona State University’s Tempe campus – It’s web-based tool, named Campus Metabolism tracks real-time energy use in buildings, and is displayed in the lobby of the Global Institute of Sustainability.
If you come across an amazing tracking tool, give me a shout, or post a comment here.
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