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Eco-Hall Challenge
In the spring of 2007, Ecologic and the Residence Hall Association combined their powers to encourage student energy conservation. Campus Planning and Facilities Design set up a metering system for all the buildings, to enable members of RHA and Ecologic to monitor the energy usage for each of the residence halls on freshman hill. This metering system enabled the Eco-Hall Challenge, which is an eight-week competition designed to educate students on life-long habits that reduce energy consumption. Each of the six residence halls: Cary, Barton, Bray, Hall, Crockett, and Nason compete with the goal of using the least amount of energy. The dorm that demonstrated the greatest average reduction in energy use over the course of 8 weeks won an ice cream party and a plaque commemorating their achievements.
Greensulate Developed by Rensselaer Grads
Rensselaer graduates (with dual degrees in mechanical engineering and PDI) Eben Bayer ’07 and Gavin McIntyre ’07 have developed an environmentally friendly organic insulation called Greensulate™. Created from waste agricultural materials, water, and mushrooms, the patent-pending insulation could replace conventional foam insulations, which are expensive to produce and harmful to the environment. The organic insulation is created by pouring a mixture of insulating particles, hydrogen peroxide, starch, and water into a panel enclosure, and injecting it with mushroom cells that digest the starch and produce a tightly meshed network of insulating particles and mycelium. The end result is an organic composite board that has a competitive R-Value—a measurement of resistance to heat flow — and can serve as a firewall. [via School of Engineering]
Solar Array For East Campus Athletic Village
Daniel S. Shugar ‘86 has pledged $100,000 and Brendan L. McKernan ’00 has pledged $50,000 for a renewable energy gift to purchase a solar array, which will help provide electric power for the East Campus Athletic Village (ECAV). The solar panels will be placed on the Houston Field House and will support the power needs of the ECAV as it is being built. [via Advancement]