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Table of Contents
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Project Background
RIT has a strong commitment to providing environmental sustainability through its policies and practices. This initiative is very important when considering possible systems utilizing the use of renewable energy resources. In the past, projects have looked at establishing a green campus that can improve both RIT image and environmental awareness.RIT Commitment to Environmental Sustainability
Problem Statement
RIT faces both increasing energy needs and energy costs. Therefore, potential sustainable technologies should be evaluated that can provide and promote renewable energy resources on the RIT campus.Project Objective
The first objective of this project is to decrease the RIT gross energy consumption (from greenhouse gas producing sources). The project team is to develop an initial plan whereby Senior Design Students in the KGCOE can contribute to the development of RIT as a campus that is both environmentally sustainable and energy efficient.The project team will compare and contrast six concepts that may contribute to the goal of making the RIT campus more green. The team will consider three large scale paper-form feasibility analyses, and three small scale technology demonstrations. The team will prepare a report supporting the technical and economic feasibility of at least one large scale project for consideration by the RIT executive administration. The team will demonstrate at least one small scale project and evaluate the technical performance in the context of the RIT campus and utilization patterns.
The objective of the team during Senior Design I is to evaluate the feasibility of the following six concepts from the perspectives of constraints, resources, economics, scope, and technology:
- Photovoltaic Cells
- Building Energy Conservation and Audit
- Wind-Solar Parking Lot Light
- Bio-Diesel Processing Station
- Water Cooling System
- Alternative Energy Resources
The six concepts will be narrowed down during week 5 concept review. Of the remaining concepts that will be presented to the project committee by the end of Senior Design I, two will be selected (one paper analysis and one technology demonstration).
The selected large scale project will become the subject of a detailed technical report for senior design II. The selected small scale project will become the subject of a technology demonstration project for senior design II.
Customer Needs
The customer for our sustainable development project is Vice Presidnet of Finance and Administration at RIT, Dr. J. Waters. The following are the metrics which were developed to meet the needs of the customer ranked in order of importance:
- Positive benefit to cost ratio
- Short payoff period for proposed project
- Long system lifespan
- Reduction of the energy wasted by the RIT campus
- A decrease in the amount of energy purchased by RIT
- Meet RIT's mission statement by helping to provide technologies which could be used to supplement education and interest in new and emerging technologies and careers.
- Provide RIT an oppurtunity to showcase an emerging technology and its commitment towards "greening" of the campus
- Help to foster a technology which will allow RIT to sustain the surrounding ecosystems.
- Increase RIT's utilization of natural resources
- Reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions of the RIT campus.
Team Members
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The team is dedicated to creation and construction of green power sources for the RIT campus. The team is dedicated to help provide knowledge and insight into the utilization of alternative energies and creation of a project which will demonstrate RIT's continuing commitment towards the greening of the campus and it interest and support of alternative energy sources. | |
| Team Page | ||
Chosen Concepts
The design team was able to use a customer needs evaluation combined with a feasibility analysis as a selection process to define the following as the selected projects for Senior Design II:Wind Powered Parking Lot Light
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The wind powered parking lot light was chosen as our technology demonstration. A typical RIT 14 foot walkway light will be retrofitted to support a wind turbine and create light which is supported by entirely "off the grid" power. A feasiblity analysis helped to determine battery size and quantity to ensure sufficient lighting and light quality. A stress analysis was also conducted and has guaranteed the safety of the current design. A more in-depth analysis of the processes which were used to ensure the quality and the safety of the design can be accessed below: | |
| Wind Power Light Information | ||
Campus Spotlight photo for May 8
Water Cooling System
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The use of the Genesse River as a cooling source for the RIT campus was chosen as our feasibility study. The river is already being used as a cooling source by several institutions and an indepth study has been done by the team to assess the feasibility of RIT using the Genesse River for integration into the cooling system. [Brief overview of the systems range - Riverknoll/CIMS etc]. In order to gain more insight into the project's planning and details see below: | |
| Genesse River Water Cooling System Information | ||
Shelved Concepts
The senior design team initially came up with 6 concepts which were explored during the initial stages of the design process. The following are the initial six concepts and their development processes until the design review on [Certain Date here when we decided on the 2 projects] which narrowed the scope down to the two projects set to be investigated during senior design II.Photovoltaic Cell
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The photovoltaic cell team was developing the idea of using a photovoltaic cell as a resource which could be used for labratory work in new courses within the energy and the environment track as well as for other classes. The photovoltaic cell was to be utilized as an educational tool and planning and design was geared towards setting up the PV cell for this purpose. The following link can be used to see their initial assessments: | |
| Photovoltaic Cell Information | ||
Energy Audit
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The energy audit was developed as a paper study into decreasing the energy usage on the RIT campus. The project was to survey a building and determine the largest sources of energy drain. By using accredited [Certain company or organization] techniques the project was to develop a plan to reduce energy consumption of an individual building. The development of this process and the assessment of chosing a specific building can be referenced below: | |
| Energy Audit Information | ||
Biodiesel
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The biodiesel concept was designed to reuse the waste vegetable oil from dining facilities on the RIT campus to create a biofuel which could then be used in RIT facilities vehicles. The design process which can be referenced below encapsulated the design of the processor, process flow and cost analysis. | |
| Bio Diesel Information | ||
Alternative Energy
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The alternative energy analysis was a paper study which was to determine the feasiblity of a large scale alternative energy project on the RIT campus. Several designs and locations were researched and are included below in the detailed summary of their investigations: | |
| Alternative Energy Information | ||
Overall Project Concepts Deliverable
Overall Project Concepts DeliverableMiscellaneous Files
In this section you will find other files that were developed throughout Senior Design 1 and Senior Design 2Meetings
| Meetings | The following are the meeting minutes for all of the team meetings which included all 10 team members. | |
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- Node updated 2007-05-10 22:08 by jag1724