Week 9

Modeler- Tyler

Plugging in values into the simulation to model various energy saving outcomes.

Results:

One Drexel Plaza before:

	Total Energy [kWh]	Energy Per Total Building Area [kWh/m2]	Energy Per Conditioned Building Area [kWh/m2]
Total Site Energy	1113795.53	223.56	223.56
Net Site Energy	1113795.53	223.56	223.56
Total Source Energy	3605193.92	723.62	723.62
Net Source Energy	3605193.92	723.62	723.62

One Drexel Plaza After bringing it up to code:

	Total Energy [kWh]	Energy Per Total Building Area [kWh/m2]	Energy Per Conditioned Building Area [kWh/m2]
Total Site Energy	792216.48	159.01	159.01
Net Site Energy	792216.48	159.01	159.01
Total Source Energy	2746383.66	551.24	551.24
Net Source Energy	2746383.66	551.24	551.24

Piezoelectric Systems- Rahul

The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure. basic piezo sensor is often used for flex, touch, vibration and shock measurements. Converting energy from mechanical stress and load is one of the most promising ways to integrate the energy harvesting module, thanks to the high power density of piezoelectric materials. 
Israeli engineers are about to begin testing a 100 metre stretch of roadway embedded with a network of Piezo Electric Generators (IPEG™). The piezoelectric effect converts mechanical strain into electrical current or voltage and the system is expected to scale up to 400 kilowatts from a 1-kilometre stretch of dual carriageway. Innowattech's generators are embedded at a depth of about 5 cm; the area where the compression stress is maximal. For our 

Green Roof- Preet

Green roofs are not only aesthetically pleasing, but they also:
Reduce city “heat island” effect
Reduce CO2 impact
Reduce summer air conditioning cost
Reduce winter heat demand
Potentially lengthen roof life 2 to 3 times
Treat nitrogen pollution in rain
Negate acid rain effect
Help reduce volume and peak rates of stormwater

Lights-Shi Yuyang

N/A

Water turbines- Karan

Week 8

We said we were going to meet on Tuesday 5/22 at 4pm.

For Tuesday, we tried to decide on two things: 

• Who is going to be responsible for what.
• Decide how many technologies you are going to research

Assign certain technologies to certain members so that they are the "experts" for those technologies (they will research the properties of technologies for the modeler). Define one person as the the "expert modeler" who will run the simulations.  Also define who will organize the administrative pieces of the work, such as organizing the reporting and presentations.

Lights-Shi Yuyang

Water turbines- Karan

Piezoelectric Systems- Rahul

Modeler- Tyler

Green Roof- Preet
Powepoint/Report- Eric

Week 6

The group set up meeting with the adviser, Liam Hendricken. When the group met, the adviser gave us plenty on help and helped us get organised.

we set up regular meeting times and decided what we needed to talk about and discuss the next time we meet up.

For our first meeting, our adviser gave us generic models of office buildings that he already used for modeling energy sufficient systems.

He also gave us Energy Plus model so that we can simulate the different types of energy saving models. In the model we can change the thickness of the window, change the lighting of the building, and also adding shading to the model itself. 

Week 4

The group was preparing for the presentation for Week 5.
To start of with we sorted out who will do what for the slide show.
Since there was no rubric posted anywhere for the Presentation, as a group we decided to use the same rubric that we used for ENGR-102 Presentation.

Preet- Slide 1, 9
Shi- Slide 2, 10
Tyler- Slide 3,
Karan- Slide 4
Eric- Slide 5, 6
Rahul- Slide 7, 8, 11

For the presentation, we will discuss:
-Problem Statement
-Design Constraints
-Initial Design Proposal
-Second Week Interation
-Final Design
-Competition Results
-Summary Conclusions

Week 3

Group met on Sunday, April 15th.

Order of Operations:

• Construct stable piers
• Best methods to construct blocks
• Build span
• Select best joints for span
• Load test
• Optimize joints
• Make it cost effective

Construct Stable Piers and best methods to construct blocks:

We started off with the pier building by comparing structures of basic cubes. and figuring out what was the strongest one. Along with some minor load testing we narrowed down to a few choices.

Building the Span:

Building the span was easy because we used West Point Bridge Designer for inspiration. When the span was build and ready to be tested.After the first load test we found that the due to faulty joints, the bridge was unable to hold the load.

Select best joints for span:
We started of with simple cheap joints. These joints were unable to support any weight. After various orientations of the same cheap joints, the load size it supported was not enough for the competition. After various iterations and testing, a simple solution was found. If the joints are giving way when weight is being put from top, then the opposite will happen if the weight is being put from bottom. So we flipped the entire span of the bridge using the strongest of the weak joints. And as predicted, the weight put on the bridge, forced the joints together causing them to stabilize and support more weight than ever tested.

Load Testing:
For loads, we used empty laundry detergent bottles and converted the ounces to pounds so match the weight of the real load test. these loads helped us accurately model the weight that was used in class. Load testing was done throughout the build process. It was an accurate way to help us see how the weight was being distributed across the bridge and put on or take away pieces that weren't helping.

Optimizing joints:
To strengthen the bridge while keeping the price low, we planed on stabilizing the joints. After taking a closer look at each type of joint provided, we saw the pros and cons for each joint. Where some sacrificed stability, they made up for in versatility degrees. When some gave way when they were pushed in one dimension, there counter part with more degrees made up for with extra stability. After changing joints of the span of the bridge, we were able to optimize the strength and stability of the bridge while keeping costs as low as possible.

Making it cost effective:

After optimizing joints the joints we found that some pieces were no longer taking the weight. But adding more to the bridge's weight itself. To take some of those out without damaging the integrity of the bridge, we planned on removing them as a lighter load rested on the bridge. After shaving off a significant amount, we ran another full scale load test by putting on 20 pounds. After having it securely hold, and using only the most essential pieces. We were successful in constructing the most cost effective and load bearing bridge that was fully optimized to the given constraints. 

Week 2

Assignment: To design a temporary bridge for the The Liliputian Olympics.

Design Constraints:

• Able to hold 20 lbs for 1min
• Use least number of pieces possible
• Construction time needs to be as quick as possible.
• Prefabricated parts need to be 10.5"x8"x6"
• Use less than 400 parts.

Constraints

The class was taught how to use West Point Bridge Design to test designs.

One week was given to come up with initial designs and a working bridge model. 

Plan:

Meet on Sunday Afternoon and work on designs and testing as group and divide up paperwork evenly between group members.