Stories

Illustrated stories explain how local systems work. They play on screens, phones and the web.

Oberlin College

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Nine stories, from Oberlin College's Sustainable Infrastructure Program

Heating and cooling

Energy

Water

Climate

Transportation

Materials

Land

Food

Adam Joseph Lewis Center

The campus energy system

Illustration of Oberlin College's district energy system: campus buildings, the central plant, solar panels and geothermal wells

We use the heating and cooling story to explain this system: the campus, the central plant, and the geothermal wells that replaced its coal boiler.

The Science Center exhibit

The C-Neutral exhibit taking shape at Oberlin College's Science Center — The exhibit taking shape

The finished exhibit case, with a kiosk menu of the nine Carbon Neutral Stories — The exhibit case

Three people at the Carbon Neutral Stories exhibit in Oberlin College’s Science Center — Carbon Neutral Stories at the Science Center

At Oberlin College's Science Center, a model of the geothermal system uses LEDs, run by ESP32 boards, to show heat moving through the wells and pipes. Oberlin students built it with Community Hub in summer 2026. People scan a QR code on the model to open the story on their phone.

Sustainability trail

In developmentQR codes placed around town, for example at the Oberlin Bike Co-op or the geothermal field. Scanning one opens the matching chapter of a story, with live data where it applies, as a self-guided tour by topic such as transportation or energy.

Participants in an Environmental Dashboard workshop at the Great Lakes Science Center