Still Going Strong

Had a few set backs but still going strong.

This has been quite the week. I was forced to deal with some personal health issues so I was unable to make it into the office as much as I would have liked this week, but I still made some progress regardless! Earlier this week, I was poking my nose in around the office trying to get as much information about the renovations taking place on the South Dining Hall on campus as I could, and I was successful!  I am officially on the email list regarding anything about the renovations, and in contact with the head project manager, and the main construction company being used. So hopefully next week, I’ll talk to them and begin to understand their involvement in the project and what they do in general. They should be having a meeting some time next week to finalize the design plans, which I should be attending. The renovation process will be a huge part of my project because as a part of N.A.U.’s 2030 plan, all new buildings and renovations on campus will be LEED certified (building meets certain sustainable criteria to receive a certification) and sustainable, so I’ll get to observe and question the techniques of constructing a sustainable building.

I was supposed to meet with another professor this week, but was forced to reschedule. However I still looked into her work. This professor, Dr. Moline, also built her own sustainable house here in Flagstaff, but it is very different than Dr. Francis’s (the professor who built his net-zero energy house that I interviewed last week). Her house is made of adobe; sun-dried clay bricks, and overall is more similar to the average house in Flagstaff, unlike Dr. Francis's. She doesn’t have the complex electrical systems or the technological accessories like Dr. Francis, yet it is still a full functioning house and completely sustainable. I look forward to talking with her about the planning and construction that went into it, as well as getting a tour.

The Difference of Just Being Aware

The weeks are really starting to speed up, and all my work is starting to blur. But in a good way! I had my first meeting with Dr. Alan Francis this week, which showed me how much I really don’t know, but I’ll learn it all soon enough! The very first topic we discussed was the definition of sustainability. He defined it as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future.” This definition comes from ‘Our Common Future’, or more commonly known as the Brundtland Report. It is a piece of work published in 1987, by an organization called the World Commission of Environment and Development, (WCED) that was convened by the United Nations. The report outlined the concept of sustainability across environmental, economic and social aspects. It is supposed to be the most generally accepted, broad definition of sustainability, but since being published there have been hundreds of rebuttals and comments against it. Many experts are starting to agree that sustainability is largely factored around the popular social ideas of the time, saying that what is sustainable today, might not be sustainable tomorrow, which is why it is so difficult to find an exact definition of the word. 

We discussed his house for a majority of the time, all the planning and designing that went into it, and the separate systems involved. A big part of how the house is as sustainable as it is, is that he uses a type of technology called ‘Dashboard’. Which uses hardware and software to constantly measure the amount of water and electricity used and when. The way he does this with the use of monitors hooked up all over his house  that directly synch to his phone so he can see exactly how much energy his house uses per day. He justified it by comparing it to a car. Saying that living in a house without a Dashboard system is like driving a car without a dashboard, so no speedometer or fuel gage, (hence the name Dashboard). We would just drive like normal, and get a gas bill at the end of each month telling us how much gas and oil we used. The problem with is this is that we don't know if theres anything wrong in the car.  With the Dashboard, we can be more aware of problems or dis-functioning equipment in our buildings and houses, like in cars.  Dr. Francis summed it up by saying that all it takes to be sustainable or have net-zero energy is just being aware of the energy you are using. 

Here'a the link to a Daily Sun article about Dr. Francis's house if you are interested!  

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/the-many-ways-to-build-green/article_79eb9bea-bda7-5cf8-96b2-3555fce0583e.html 

Starting Some Actual Work...

I am now more comfortable in the office, and I believe I am actually starting to get some real work done. This week was more reading but also a lot of emailing. My advisor Agnes gave me a contact list of experts who work on campus that I could interview and question, and said I had to email them. So I did, and I explained my project and asked if they were willing to meet with me. Almost all got back to me willing talk, which is amazing considering all of them have major projects going on and I am not a college student. Most of them said they were just excited that someone as young as me was interested in their work. So this week I have a meeting scheduled with a professor who teaches construction graphics and mechanical/electrical systems, Dr. Alan Francis. But the cool part is that he also works with net-zero architecture. And when I say, “he works with” I mean he designed and built his own house as a net-zero energy house that is completely off the grid, and completely functional. Net-zero architecture means that the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site. I’m excited to talk to him about it. We’ll see how it goes.

Along with emailing, I began reading about the different sustainable buildings we already have on campus, and the materials they used for them. Fun fact: there is a building on campus, the ARD science building, whose insulation is 90%, recycled denim jeans. This building is rated platinum on the LEED building scale, and was two points away from being the most sustainable building of its kind (commercial building with a lab) in the country. However, I have talked with some of those who work in the building, and apparently the windows don’t close and the toilets don’t flush…. but it is still the 2^nd most sustainable building of its kind. 

I have also been reading about the whole LEED rating system. LEED, (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is a point-rated system. Depending on the number of points a building gets, it is awarded the certification of being just certified, silver, gold, or platinum. The points are awarded based on several different factors, such as energy use, location, water efficiency, air quality, materials and a bunch of other things. So far, the N.A.U. campus has nine LEED certified buildings. And right now, they are working on renovating the South dining hall to be LEED certified. In the future I hope to sit in on those meetings in the next few weeks to observe the designing process. 

Getting Situated.

Getting situated. 

My first week at the internship was spent becoming acquainted with the ways of the office. I found a parking spot that didn’t already belong to someone, I got a tour of the building, and learned who is willing to answer a high schooler’s questions and whom I should avoid in the lunchroom. An important part of my first week at the office was also meeting the “Dream Team”, which is a team of people who all work under my advisor, Agnes on the different construction projects taking place on campus. These people are the designers, engineers, construction workers and sustainability experts that actually carry out the projects. These guys are fun because they show the different options you have to work with in sustainable architecture in “the real world”.  I am still working on names and faces, but all of them have been very welcoming and offering help when I need it, and sometimes even when I don’t need it.

Since it was the very first week, I spent a majority of the time at the office reading and messing around on a computer. I was not aware how much computer software I would actually have to use, and how little patience I have for any technology. Nonetheless I did learn how to use it, with help from many members of the “Dream Team” of course. Along with the computer stuff, I had to read article upon article about all the possible sustainable materials that can be used for a building. I read about how they are all made, where they are made, how they’re transported and used and then how they are disposed of. Which I am going to be doing for another few days considering there are a lot of different materials that can be used.

This week I did realize that one of the best parts of this project is that I am working in an office with people who have established careers in the field I wish to study, and I am on a college campus with professors that teach the stuff I want to learn. It is amazing because I can now constantly bug these very hard workers with any questions I may have regarding any topic similar to their fields of expertise. I haven’t had the chance to actually ask any questions just yet, but it is still nice to know that if I do need some answers all I have to do is walk into the next office.

Just the Beginning...

The world of sustainability has gained a lot of momentum in the past few years; people are now very concerned about the future of our planet, and how that future will affect the human race. I am one of those people, and living in a place like Flagstaff, I am aware of how much the environment plays a part in our lives. However, the amount of polluting or destruction we can do has always been a little hard for me to grasp. The idea that humans can use all of the water in our oceans or pollute all the air in our atmosphere or use up all the space on earth seems kind of far-fetched. Yet, experts say it can be done, and it can be done in a matter of a person’s lifetime. This is why I, personally, am interested in the field of sustainability, and why I built my project around it, and on a different note I am very interested in studying architecture, so I combined them.

This blog will follow the search for the most sustainable architectural materials possible and the real-world applications of those materials. The hard thing about approaching anything surrounding sustainability is that there is no strict definition that someone can follow and be able to confidently say, “yes, this thing is sustainable.” Throughout my research I will be meeting with all kinds of experts that work in the field of sustainability and the first question I want to ask is “How do you personally define sustainability?” Most of the people I have asked (mainly just grad students wandering around the building) have all said something along the lines of “it should sustain a long length of time and have little to no impact on the environment.” This is the definition that I would probably give if I were asked this question as well. It'll be interesting to see how this definition compares to those of experts in the field.  For this project I am going to be comparing the different materials of each aspect of a building, such as structural, roofing, walls, and window materials etc. Then I will see what a college campus construction company uses in their buildings and compare my findings. A big thing with sustainability is that it is expensive, and college campuses don’t generally have the money to buy the more sustainable option. Which is why I added the part of real world application of the materials, to find what materials are sustainable and reasonable for commercial buildings. I start my research this week, so we’ll see how it goes!