EE80S: Sustainability Engineering and Practice, Fall 2009

Sustainability Engineering and Ecological Design project assignment

Project Coordinator: James Barsimantov

Final project description

During this course your group of four will develop a group project proposal to address a sustainability challenge on this campus or in the community. This project will be an opportunity to gain experience working in an interdisciplinary team and synthesize concepts and ideas learned during the course. The project will be organized around a real world funding opportunity and the project coordinator will work with your teams to develop your project ideas and some groups will work with mentors on campus or the community. The best two to three projects will be considered for submission to the P3 Award Program and these teams will work with professional grant writers to prepare the final proposal.

The US Environmental Project Agency has funding for student designed sustainability projects as part of the P3 Award Program. The EPA is seeking applications proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving sustainability. The P3 competition highlights people, prosperity, and the planet – the three pillars of sustainability. The P3 Awards Program is a partnership between the public and private sectors to foster progress toward sustainability by achieving the mutual goals of economic prosperity, protection of the planet, and improved quality of life for its people. The EPA offers the P3 competition in order to respond to the technical needs of the developed and developing world while moving towards the goal of sustainability. Please see the P3 website ( for more details about this program.

For a general overview of sustainability at UCSC:

Sustainability challenge project proposal categories

* Agriculture (e.g., irrigation practices, reduction or elimination of pesticides)

* Materials and chemicals (e.g., materials conservation; renewable, bio-based feedstocks; inherently benign materials and chemicals through green engineering and green chemistry; biotechnology; recovery and reuse of materials through product, process, or system design)

* Energy (e.g., reduction in air emissions through innovative strategies for energy production and energy distribution; energy conservation; inherently benign energy through green chemistry, green engineering; biotechnology)

* Information technology (e.g., delivery of and access to environmental performance, technical, educational, or public health information related environmental decision-making)

* Water (e.g., water quality, quantity, conservation, availability, and access)

* Built environment (e.g., environmental benefits through innovative green buildings, transportation and mobility strategies, and smart growth as it results in reduced vehicle miles traveled or reduces storm water runoff)

Project Proposal

Your proposal should be written from the perspective of a student group proposing a sustainability project on campus and/or in the community (it could be Santa Cruz or some other community approved by the project coordinator). The scope of this project and your budget reflect what you hope/plan to accomplish as a student group. The proposal should include an abstract, introduction, statement of the problem, proposed solution, implementation, budget, personnel, and timeline. The budget should be around $4,000 for this project, although larger scale projects may be appropriate with approval of the project coordinator. You may propose to eventually raise more money from local partners, the UCSC administration, or grants, but for this phase stay within the range mentioned above. Your budget could be used to scope, design, or implement a project. In many cases you will be proposing an alternative or more participatory design process and asking people to consider specific “more sustainable” technologies. Your papers will be both constructive and critical of a sustainability project, anticipating key design features that will be important to meeting the project goals.

FOR ALL PROJECT ASSIGNMENTS (outline, draft, and final report) ONE ELECTRONIC COPY SHOULD BE SUBMITTED THROUGH WEBCT & ONE PRINTED COPY SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO CLASS.

PLEASE LIST ALL GROUP MEMBERS ON ALL ASSIGNMENTS!

Assignment deadlines

1) A proposal outline is due 10/29 (Thurs) at noon in lecture. This is outline should describe your idea, who your partner(s) are, potential research questions, design and implementation goals, and project timelines. Feedback will be provided within a week. We also expect you to contact other students as well as the individuals and organizations currently involved in this work. 10 POINTS

2) A proposal rough draft is due 11/17 (Tues) at noon in lecture. This will be a full first draft, structured according to the project description and including 10 pages of text. Only turn in one draft per group. You will get feedback from the graders/TAs/instructors and allied project partners. 20 POINTS

3) Your Final Report is due 12/3 (Thurs) at noon. 70 POINTS

Please remember that the full project is worth a major portion of your course grade (35%). There are several components relevant to the final project and they include the following:

• There will be a peer review process in which each member will state their contribution to the group and evaluate the contributions made by other team members.

• If you write an outstanding project, we can assist you to submit this to a granting institution (government, foundation or other) to finance this project. This is optional, but it will be a great experience.

• No late Final Reports will be accepted.

4) Self/Peer Evaluation Form Due 12/3 (Thurs) at noon. This will be an anonymous review of your team, to make sure that tasks were fairly distributed.

Final Report Format

The proposal will be oriented toward a particular program at the EPA called People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3). See the following URL for more information:

  1. Title Page
  2. Project title
  3. Your names and emails
  4. List of project mentors and advisors
  5. Abstract (1 page)
  6. Summary of the project in less than 300 words.
  7. Project Summary should cover the following: (1) Definition of a technical challenge to implement sustainability; (2) Development of an innovative design approach with technical merit to address the challenge; (3) Discussion of how the challenge and proposed design relate to sustainability including people, prosperity, and the planet; (4) Description of strategy for measuring results, evaluation and demonstration; and (5) Description of how P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) concepts will be used as an educational tool at the university, such as by incorporation into the community and/or the institution’s curriculum.
  8. Supplemental Keywords: Without duplicating terms already used in the text of the abstract, list keywords to assist database searchers in finding your research.
  9. Project Proposal (Research Plan 10 pages single-spaced 12 point Times font 1 inch margins, references do not count towards the 10 page total, some pictures and figures can count towards 10 pages, but if you would like to add extra figures and data you can do this in an appendix)

The description of the research plan must provide the following information:

  1. P3 Project Description: Structure the description using the peer review criteria as subheadings:
  2. Challenge Definition;
  3. Innovation and Technical Merit (this is the description of what you propose to do to address the implementation of renewable energy challenge—technical merit refers to questions of whether or not it will work; you need to prove that it will accomplish the goals);
  4. Relationship of Challenge to Sustainability;
  5. Measurable Results (outputs/outcomes), Evaluation Method, and Demonstration Strategy; and
  6. Integration of P3 Concepts as an Educational Tool.
  7. Project Timeline. What are the steps that you need to implement the project and how will you measure progress “milestones” towards the final goal. Several of these steps may have already occurred.
  8. Indicate anticipated role and tasks of each team member or department represented. Also, indicate anticipated interactions with any and all partners, if applicable.
  1. Partnerships (if applicable): [Note: This description does not count toward the ten (10) page limit for the Research Plan, and your partners can also be student groups on campus}
  2. References [Note: These do not count toward the ten (10) page limit for the Research Plan]. Peer reviewed journals are excellent sources and you should have at least four of these sources. However, we also know that websites from government agencies, universities and others will be useful. Use the format from the APA (American Psychological Association). There are several websites that provide good examples of how to do this, see the following as only one example
  3. Budget and Budget Justification(remember the budget is for the student project)

Please include a simple budget and justification that explains how you will spend money in the design and implementation of this project. This is also a space in which you can describe the co-investments and in-kind contributions, which could be provided by your partner organizations. One example of this would be volunteer labor.

  1. Appendices

This is a great place to use to add extra diagrams and supporting information. You can add up to three additional pages here that do not count towards the maximum page length of the document.

Evaluation Criteria for this assignment

Creativity (originality and innovative thinking evidenced in both the proposal and implementation strategy) 10 pts

Implementation, Have you clearly identified the steps needed to implement the final project? 10 pts.

Budget and budget justification 10pts

Background (What is the context? Are there other examples elsewhere?) 10pts

Measurements (What measurements / estimates did you take? Do they appear to be accurate? What calculations were made, for example did the team estimate the carbon footprint associated with a given technology, calculate a rate of return on investment, and/or estimate the payback time?) 10pts

Overall Report (the overall quality of the final report) 10pts

Peer / Self Evaluations *(See attached form) 5pts

References, Format and Clarity (Are the sources credible? Is the paper clearly written and formatted?) 5pts

*In exceptional cases the peer / self evaluations can be a larger percentage of the final project.

Work together as a student teams

Who are you as a group of student-learners and teacher-learners? How can you combine your interests to work together to connect sustainability and interdisciplinary learning to sustainable community development processes?

• How can student-learners use their differences as a source of creativity? (Do you have a math wiz on your team, an artist, or an organized team coordinator? A social justice analyst/organizer?)

• How can engineers, social scientists and natural scientists collaborate most effectively?

• What are the obstacles and opportunities among our attitudes, vocabularies, and practices?

Work with community and campus-based partnersThe project coordinator has identified several strategic partners in the community and on campus that are interested in working with student-partners on different projects. They have provided us with background information on sustainability problem they are interested in getting help to answer. Think about the potential projects suggested in class to see if any interest you or to give you ideas about new projects where you might seek out a new mentor relationship. We have identified two roles for these partners.

Project Mentor—This person is invested in the outcome of the project. Some are willing to meet with the student team (or a designated representative of the team) 1-3 times, provide background information and share several meetings. You should contact this person early on in the project, once you have identified the basic information for your project and conducted some background research.

Project Adviser —This person will answer 1-2 email and phone calls. You could meet with them during their office hours or at a pre-arranged time. They could provide specific advice about your project, help with a calculation, and recommend articles to read, or provide valuable background information.

No mentor— Some projects will not have mentors or advisors and will rely on the project coordinator for feedback on ideas. These projects will not be penalized for not having mentors or advisors.

All groups will have access to copies of past projects to review and update. Versions students will see have not been corrected, so it will be up to the students to verify that what they come across in the reports are accurate.

Project Ideas by Category

ENERGY

Please visit to read the draft UCSC Climate Action Plan.

Large Scale Solar PV System at UCSC

Design and site a solar photovoltaic system to reduce the fossil fuel energy consumed at UCSC. The UCSC Climate Action Plan specifies the use of solar PV as an option to meet carbon reduction goals. The campus may send out a CFP for a solar PV system soon. Where should it go? How much energy should it produce annually?

Solar Powered Ferris Wheel With Regenerative Flywheel Braking

Explores the possibility of installing a flywheel energy storage device on the Boardwalk Ferris Wheel to increase energy efficiency and provide a community example of renewable energy and sustainability.

Santa Cruz Solar Municipal Utility

A previous group produced a concept paper that looks at placing solar photovoltaic panels on the roof top of businesses on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz. The proposal's aim was to convince the Pacific Avenue business that solar energy is profitable. The proposal also outlines a variety of models for collective buying of solar panels. In these plans the City of Santa Cruz would it sense be creating its own Solar Power municipal which will eventually bring profit to the city. Either refine this proposal, or explore what obstacles could be slowing this idea from being implemented.

Solar Finance Model

A team in the concurrent sustainable design class (SOCY115) is looking for two engineers to help design their project which is to develop an innovative finance model for installing solar PV.

Solar PV Trees in SC or UCSC parking lots

There is a group in Sociology 115 that is hoping to get help on a proposal to put solar trees in parking lots. Solar trees are poles that hold multiple solar PV modules on branch-like arms. They are effective in that they might have a smaller footprint, but may pose some drawbacks in terms of design.

Using Solar power at the Santa Cruz boardwalk

This project proposed by one of our partners hopes to determine the technical and financial feasibility of adding solar PV to the boardwalk to offset the carbon emissions from boardwalk operations.

Feasibility of operating heavy machinery with renewable energy

A new manufacturing facility that makes equipment to capture brake dust will be coming on line and is interested in operating on renewable energy. This project proposed by one of our partners looks to investigate technical obstacles and financial options for making this happen.

Use of solar PV at 300 Delaware UCSC extension

A past project looked to outfit the UCSC extension building on 300 Delaware in Santa Cruz with solar photovoltaic modules. The plan is to out fit the building with panels and apply for government rebates to help cover the cost. While the up front cost are high with government rebates and money saved on energy bills the solar panels will pay for themselves in 20-30 years. Ultimately the goal of the proposal is to convince UCSC to implement more solar power projects on other buildings.

Core West Solar Retrofit Proposal

This proposal was to install BP solar SX 3200 PV panels on the roof of the Core West parking structure. By doing so the solar farm will be able to provide clean solar energy for campus uses. The parking structure was picked as a suitable location because of its access to sun for long hours, and also because it would provide shade for cars.

Porter Photovoltaic

This project called for the reduction of the UCSC's dependence on PG&E by funding the installation of solar photovoltaics on the southern roofs of Porter B buildings. This project would only be one step in making the campus sustainable. If the project proves profitable over a short enough amount of time, then the campus is advised to take further steps. The plan calls for the retrofitting of a 3,000W system with a maximum area of about 4,000 sq. ft.

Use of Renewable Energy and Energy Recovery Devices in the Santa Cruz Water Desalination Plant

This project analyses the proposed desalination plan in the City of Santa Cruz and the potential to use renewable energy. The paper showed how the desalination plant, if it uses new energy efficient technologies could be totally energy efficient.

Solar Sustainability: Making OPERS a Model For Future Innovation

The Group looked to set an example of renewable energy running public systems by making the OPERS pool building completely solar powered. The group then hopes to continue by bringing their prefect to other UC campus.