Student Sustainability Projects
Students Retrofit Wing with Green Technologies
In 2008 Sustainable Living students Troy Van Beek and Robbie Gongwer completed a six-month project to renovate the Sustainable Living wing of the Library in order to provide more workshop space, to create an attractive environment, and to retrofit it with green technologies such as motion sensors, skylights, sun tubes, and high-performance fixtures.
A second phase added more high-performance fixtures as well as solar panels and solar hot water.
Students in this hands-on program learn to build projects, and in recent years have fabricated a wind generator and have constructed a biodiesel processor.
The new workshop built by Mr. Van Beek and Mr. Gongwer included a bay door for easy access to vehicles si that the students can service campus and other vehicles with the biodiesel fuel they make. The fuel can be used in any vehicle with a diesel motor and is made from organic material such as the sesame oil discarded by The Raj Health Spa in Maharishi Vedic City.
The two students put in skylights to make more use of daylighting in order to save energy. And they used sun tubes to redirect sunlight to Sustainable Living offices that don’t have skylights.
Other retrofitting included insulation and the use of high-performance fixtures that consume less energy. Motion detectors are used to turn on lights only when a room or hallway is occupied.
Mr. Van Beek said this application of green technologies is not only better for the environment and saves the University money, but also vividly demonstrates the application of sustainable technologies.
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