UW Green Energy Challenge Project Profiled
An article in the North Seattle Herald-Outlook featured the Green Energy Challenge project produced by the NECA Student Chapter from the University of Washington. The UW team is a finalist in this year's student design competition and will present their project at NECA's 2009 Convention in Seattle, Sept. 12-15.
The Green Energy Challenge asked NECA student chapters to work with a local school to improve the efficiency of their energy use. The UW team chose Wedgwood Elementary School because one team member had a close connection. Kyle Hughes, who is active in the Wedgwood community, lives just a few blocks from the school and was confident that his group's project would receive community support, especially since the school was eligible for a new lighting retrofit.
From the article:
The team worked closely with two clients, Wedgwood principal Denise Espania and Nicole Riss, a resource conservation specialist from Seattle Public Schools. "It was a pretty unique experience working with two different clients," said team captain Joey Berger.
"Nicole gave us the reality check about how different systems really work, and then Principal Espania and [the] school faculty addressed the issues they experienced with the current system.The school was really into sustainability."
A part of the photovoltaic system requirement was to create a way for teachers to integrate the design into the elementary school's curriculum. "We are also putting two PV panels in front of the school with two new lights," Berger explained, "and it'll be more interactive learning as the PV panels charge the lights and a computer monitor within the entry of the school displays how much power they are saving."
Congratulations to the UW NECA Student Chapter and good luck at the finals in Seattle!
