The Campus Demotechnic Index (CDI) is a normalized metric developed to provide universities with a method for tracking progress toward or retreat from sustainability in their energy consumption. The CDI is modified after the Demotechnic Index of Mata et al. (1994). CDI values assess the total campus energy consumed against the total energy required to meet the campus population's basal metabolism. Like the D-Index, the CDI is thus a measure of the scalar quantity of energy consumed in excess of the quantity of energy required for simple survival on a per capita basis.

For this research, data were collected from an on-line survey designed for U.S. colleges and universities, which requested information related to campus demographics and campus built and mobile environmental energy consumption. Data were requested for the years of 2000 to 2005. Wilcoxon signed rank test analyses were conducted to determine if CDI values significantly increased over time. ANOVAs, GLMs, correlations and regressions were conducted to determine if climate and campus size significantly influenced CDI. ANOVAs, correlations and regressions were conducted to determine the effect of acreage on mobile fuel consumption and to ascertain whether differing proportions between the built and mobile environments significantly influenced CDI values. Correlations and regressions were carried out to which variables best predicted CDI, and cluster analyses were conducted to find out if any significant groups existed based on CDI values, fossil fuel consumption and population per square foot.

The knowledge gained from results of these analyses not only provides a depiction of campus energy consumption, but also puts campus energy consumption into context in that CDI scores allow peer institutional comparisons. Awareness of factors that contribute to campus energy use (and CDI ranks) could also facilitate prioritization of sustainability-related issues, as well as the design and establishment of sustainable management systems.