Tufts Demystifies their Central Energy Plant with New Educational Signage

Digital Design and Videography Intern, Sasha Vogel, A25, helped install the educational signage she designed for theTufts Medford/Somerville Central Energy Plant

Have you seen the building with large glass windows across from the Tufts/Medford Green Line stop and wondered, “What is going on in there?” If so, you’re definitely not alone. Behind the glass facade is a system helping Tufts reach its decarbonization goal.

Thanks to months of collaboration between the students, the Office of Sustainability, and Facilities Services, new signage now adorns the  Central Energy Plant (CEP) to help bridge the gap between the work going on inside  and curious onlookers outside. Guided by the research of Sustainable Solutions Fellow, Keila McCabe, A24, design work from Digital Design and Videography Intern, Sasha Vogel, A25, and support from Facilities staff, we’ve installed educational signage at the Medford/Somerville Central Energy Plant that breaks down exactly how this facility contributes to campus decarbonization.

Built in 2018, the CEP uses a system known as cogeneration to produce electricity, heating, and cooling in a way that is more energy efficient than traditional power plants. The CEP currently powers about half of the Medford/Somerville campus and can continue running even during power outages, making the campus more resilient in the face of bad weather outages. Yes, the plant still burns fossil fuels, but this efficiency upgrade is an important step toward our goal of campus decarbonization by 2050

So the next time you’re walking on campus, take a moment to check out the new signage on the CEP now that you know what’s going on inside and why it matters for Tufts’ sustainability.