Sustainability Studio: Water
Envir 480, Winter 2012
This was a wonderfully practical experience in interdisciplinary collaboration. In one quarter the class develops and presents several ideas centered on a campus sustainability topic that rotates throughout the year (eg. water, carbon emissions, traffic, electricity). My colleagues and I tackled the challenge of the sustainability of water on campus-- how it's brought in, used, polluted, transported, and how it leaves. We explored the definition of sustainability and both its influential and consequential factors. Equally as important was our discussion on how to steward change on multiple levels from grass-root to government. My group of three Materials Engineering students and three students from the Program on the Environment (POE) specifically worked on a project to introduce permeable pavement to campus grounds. The interaction pushed all of us to not only exercise our knowledge, but also to communicate efficiently.
The presentation is a culmination of our efforts as an interdisciplinary unit. As engineers we provided insight and an analysis of the available pavement materials and what which is most appropriate. POE students guided carving out of the need and benefits of permeable pavement. Please click here to explore my class' glorious report on introducing permeable pavement, bioswales, and a rain garden to the university campus, along with final reports from other quarters. |
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