Posters presented at the October 16, 2006 Deans’ Forum on Energy Security and Sustainability
Education Programs
2: Integrating Planning, Design, Construction, Operation, and Maintenance for Sustainable Energy Systems
Energy production generally involves complex systems that must be operated in a safe reliable manner. The reason for safety is obvious, while reliability may be mainly considered to be in the best interest of the producer. Actually reliable efficient energy production is in the best interest of society. Maintenance of complex energy systems is critical for reliable efficient operation, and impacts ultimately the sustainability of such systems. Monitoring deterioration in order to effectively maintain complex systems is optimally achieved only if planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance are integrated synergistically. An effort to develop an educational and research program that will equip young women and men to meet the challenges associated with existing fossil and nuclear energy power plants as well as new power plants will be described.
John Duke, 231-6063, Dept: Engineering Science and Mechanics, Mail code: 0219, Affiliation: faculty
10: Virginia Tech Green Engineering Program
Green Engineering focuses on the design of materials, processes, systems, and devices with the objective of minimizing overall environmental impact, including energy utilization, throughout the entire life cycle. The Virginia Tech Green Engineering Program crosses all disciplines in the College of Engineering. The mission of this program is fourfold: (1) to increase engineering students’ awareness of the environmental impact of engineering decisions; (2) to provide students with courses and other educational experiences in which they learn engineering skills to minimize environmental impacts and to design for sustainability; (3) to facilitate interdisciplinary research and collaboration in areas of green engineering and sustainability among faculty at Virginia Tech; (4) to engage the university, local, and global communities in discussions focused on engineering approaches to sustainability. Students can obtain a concentration in Green Engineering by taking 18 credits in specific classes which focus on the impact of engineering practice on the environment. The topic of energy is a thread which necessarily runs through all aspects of the Green Engineering Program. Six (6) of the twelve (12) Principles of Green Engineering defined by Anastas, et. al, explicitly refer to energy [1]. The topic of energy is covered in detail for the two core classes for the concentration, Introduction to Green Engineering, and Environmental Life Cycle Analysis. In the latter class, the efficiency, reliability, environmental impact, and cost of energy sources are analyzed over all life cycle phases (raw materials extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal) for a product, process, or system. Additionally, energy is a significant topic for at least 18 additional classes across campus which can be used as part of the requirements for the Green Engineering Concentration. [1] P. Anastas and J. Zimmerman, Environmental Science and Technology, v. 37, n. 5, March 1, 2003, p. 94A-101A.
Sean McGinnis, 231-1446, Dept: Materials Science and Engineering, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: faculty
53: Education for a Sustainable Energy Future
Education will be a key factor in moving human societies to a sustainable energy future. At Virginia Tech, we are building a core curricular program that challenges students to envision just such a future, and provides them with the intellectual tools to construct it. The Earth Sustainability (ES) series represents an emerging model for general education that explores issues surrounding the sustainable use of Earth’s energy and other natural resources from an interdisciplinary perspective. The second of the four-semesters of this sequence focuses on energy resources. We provide a framework within which students can understand energy-related issues in ways that allow them to imagine more sustainable policies and practices at all levels. To illustrate these challenges, we involve students with the political, economic, and social, as-well-as the technical and environmental issues associated with energy production and use. We do this, in part, through experiences such as discussions with energy researchers and visits to energy generating facilities, coal mining and reclamation practices in Appalachia, and alternative energy installations. Through direct exposure to these issues, students become engaged with the university’s efforts to develop energy efficiency and sustainable practices. They also learn how to apply this knowledge at the individual, community, national, and global levels to achieve the more sustainable energy future they envision.
Joan Marie, 540/250-6569, Dept: Science and Technology in Society, Mail code: 0247, Affiliation: graduate student
88: The Building of Tomorrow
Buildings are responsible for on the order of 40% of energy consumption in the United States, and nearly 68% of all electricity use. As such, they represent a significant impact on energy security as well as an opportunity to substantially improve sustainability. The 1.8 million residences and 170,000 commercial facilities built each year in the United States, along with the over 120 million existing commercial and residential facilities, represent a level of energy performance that is only a fraction of what is achievable by the Architecture/Engineering/Construction industry today. The diversity and complexity of our building systems increases the challenges in incorporating energy efficiency technologies into our built environment. The Myers-Lawson School of Construction is dedicated to transforming the industry toward creating high performance facilities and infrastructure systems that meet today’s needs without compromising the ability of future stakeholders to meet their own needs. Energy-related research, education, and outreach within the School focuses on: • Developing building system models that support a holistic approach on system design and control strategies • Investigating impacts of building systems among each other and use them to increase efficiency (heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, daylighting, window and envelope systems) • Developing new materials and material systems to support energy efficient building systems and construction practices • Developing new, high performance facility technologies and practices • Understanding how new technologies are commercialized, diffused, and adopted by building stakeholders to improve the performance of their facilities • Developing new cost and performance models to better predict the costs and benefits of green building practices • Designing systems to support the integration of sustainability as an objective of public sector capital project decision making • Educating current and future design and construction professionals about how to implement sustainability in professional practice.
Georg Reichard, 540-818-4603, Dept: Building Construction, Mail code: 0156, Affiliation: faculty
98: Involving Undergraduates in Research through an NSF REU Site: Materials and Processes for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Involving undergraduate students in meaningful research activities is an important part of their education. Positive experiences in research can influence career choices and often encourage pursuit of advanced degrees. Through the National Science Foundation's program on Research Experiences for Undergraduates, we have just completed our first of a three year award for an REU site on "Materials and Processes for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells." Ten undergraduate students participated in the 12-week summer program, each under the direction of a graduate student mentor and a faculty member. The diverse group of students came from VT and other well-known universities across the United States. All of them were exposed to working in a research environment and encouraged to consider graduate school, including at VT. In addition to their research, students participated in a short course to prepare them for their research, a weekly communication program designed to enhance their written and oral communication skills, and a focused seminar program involving experts from VT and from industry. Research topics ranged from using waste water bacteria to develop a functioning fuel cell to digital image correlation techniques to characterize membrane deformations to synthesis of membranes with improved performance and durability to techniques for recovering catalyst at end of life. This poster will provide an overview of the program as well as highlight the research of several of the students. The Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute helped to administer this REU program along with several others, allowing for a total of nearly 40 undergraduate participants in the summer of 2006.
David Dillard, 231-4714, Mail code: 0219, Affiliation: faculty
Michael Ellis, mwellis@vt.edu, 231-9102, Affiliation: faculty
104: The Virginia Tech Solar Decathlon Project: A Consumer Diffusion Model of Best-Practices in Energy Efficient Housing
This work describes Virginia Tech’s involvement in the DOE Solar Decathlon competition in 2002 and 2005. It highlights the lessons learned from designing two completely off-grid homes and those lessons that are transferable to contemporary consumer housing. This research focuses on a highly-integrated set of technologies involved in the collection, storage, management, and efficient use of solar-derived energy that will support a no-compromise lifestyle. Advanced material selection and its use are discussed based on performance and the ability of the material to respond to being renewable, recyclable, or having low embodied energy content. A kinetically responsive wall system is also described that allows the building enclosure to alter its physical state based on energy flows. While the focus of the competition was on an off-grid solution, the research emphasizes the grid-intertie and distributed power nature of the project as a way to maximize the economic benefit and the life-cycle energy collection of the PV system.
Bob Schubert, 231-5607, Dept: Architecture, Mail code: 0205, Affiliation: faculty
Robert Dunay, 231-9935, Dept: Architecture, Mail code: 0205, Affiliation: faculty
Joe Wheeler, 231-7236, Dept: Architecture, Mail code: 0205, Affiliation: faculty
Mike Ellis, 231-9102, Dept: Mechanical Engineering, Mail code: 0238, Affiliation: faculty
David Clark, 540-841-3241, Dept: Architecture, Mail code: 0205, Affiliation: graduate student
Sustainable Development Design Projects for Engineering Freshmen
Engineering freshmen (~1200 every year) are assigned a sustainable development design project in their first semester mandatory course “Engineering Exploration EngE1024” offered by the Department of Engineering Education. The objectives are to: introduce the concept of sustainable development using early design experiences, provide a team experience, develop oral and written communication skills, and incorporate a social context into the engineering curriculum. This activity is a part of a NSF sponsored Department-Level Reform (DLR) project (www.dlr.enge.vt.edu). This poster highlights three sustainable development design projects, developed by the DLR project investigators, from the fall 2005, spring 2006, and the ongoing fall 2006 semesters. The projects require the students to complete a series of research and design oriented assignments and culminate in a competition where selected teams competed for one of three awards. In fall 2005, 320 student teams were presented with a five week long design assignment which focused on low tech solutions for a developing community given a limited supply of appropriate construction materials. The student teams were required to address one of four areas of focus; energy, education, nutrition and agriculture. In spring 2006, 45 student teams were assigned a comparable six week design project which focused on literacy and sustainable development. This fall, students have been assigned to develop a “Promotional Invention” that promotes awareness of a renewable energy source. Student teams (~300) have been assigned one of four renewable energy topics: Hydropower, Solar, Wind, and Biomass and are allowed to purchase materials up to $10 per team for their design. Additional curricula activities highlighting world population growth, analysis of oil production and consumption data in various counties, lecture on ‘energy policy’ by a senior engineering faculty supplemented the project in fall 2006. The poster will include some example design projects including results of focus group interviews and surveys conducted to assess the effectiveness of this new approach of introducing design in the early part of engineering curriculum.