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
1-Page Executive
Summary
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
- 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.
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Team Page
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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:
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Wind
Power Light Information
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Campus
Spotlight photo for May 8
Construction
Photos
Parts & Pieces
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:
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Genesse River Water Cooling System Information
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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:
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Photovoltaic
Cell Information
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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:
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Energy Audit
Information
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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.
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Bio Diesel
Information
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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:
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Alternative
Energy Information
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Overall Project Concepts Deliverable
Overall
Project Concepts Deliverable
Concept
Review Power Point
Concept
Selection Matrix
Miscellaneous Files
In this section you will find other files that were
developed throughout Senior Design 1 and Senior Design 2
Meetings
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Meetings
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The following are the meeting minutes for all of the
team meetings which included all 10 team members.
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