Green Roof & GRiPV-c Tour

Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation / Bronx Borough President’s Office coordinated Green Roof Tour, as part of “Bronx Week”. Bronx Design & Construction Academy was one of four green roofs visited!

Webinar: Growing Schoolyard STEM Projects

Excited to be a participant in the webinar “Growing Schoolyard STEM Projects!” See below to learn more,

• What? Join us the Wednesday before National Environmental Education Week for an introduction to the many applications of schoolyard gardens and green spaces as teaching tools for connecting environmental education and STEM learning! Presenters will cover some of the many different types of gardens or other spaces that can be used as outdoor classrooms and the related STEM tie-ins they offer. From engineering a garden bed or rainwater system, to the biology of plant life or pollinators, to the math used to calculate growing cycles and planting times, the lesson options are endless.

• Who? Hear Nathaniel Wight, a science teacher in New York City, share his experience with a green roof project and his plans for what he has in mind next. Then Melanie Parker from Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland will talk about how to infuse stormwater education into an entire school system’s curriculum. And finally, hear from Nature Works Everywhere about some of the premier resources available for helping you start and get the most out of your own schoolyard STEM garden.

• When? Wednesday, April 15 2015 at 7:30pm ET.

• How? Register for EE Week 2015 to join the live session on Wednesday. The link to join the webinar will be provided to all registrants of EE Week 2015. Registration is free and open to everyone!

BDCA E2RC Design Competition!

Last year BDCA students won a prestigious international prize for their Energy Environment Research Center (E2RC) design. This year, 11th and 12th grade architectural students refine the design using AutoCAD. Congratulations to Justine, Joande, and Noel! These winning designs will be showcased at the World Future Energy Summit during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week this January, and will also be used to guide our construction in the spring.

Designs were evaluated on the below categories:

• Renewable Energy (25 pts)
• Greenhouse (25 pts)
• Landscape Design (25 pts)
• Sustainability (25 pts)

Total scores were weighed as such:

• 60% industry professionals/partners
• 20% BDCA staff
• 20% student presentations

Project Timeline:

• November: Students Design E2RC in their Architectural Drafting classes!
• Dec 2nd – Dec 5th: Judging of design. Judging will be done by industry professionals/partners and BDCA staff.
• Dec 8th: Student winner announced!
• Wk of Jan 19th: Student winner travels to Abu Dhabi to present at the Zayed Future Energy Prize as part of the annual World Future Energy Summit during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
• Feb – May: building the Energy Environment Research Center

Note: the wind turbine created in these drawings will actually be a vertical axis wind turbine (like this one in Long Island City), not horizontal as depicted in these drawings. Vertical axis turbines are powered by wind coming from all 360 degrees. Because of this versatility, vertical axis wind turbines are ideal for installations where wind conditions are not consistent, such as in urban settings.

Zayed Future Energy Environment Research Center:

• Provide a model educational center where both students and community members can study sustainable design and renewable energy systems.
• Provide a showcase of cutting-edge renewable energy systems that will be visible and available at street-level for students, professionals, academics, engineers, and visitors to learn from.
• Provide an outside supplemental classroom for CTE and content-based classes.
• Provide an off grid emergency power facility that can be used by the community during power outages and times of need.

Zayed Future Energy Prize Finalists!

Bronx Design & Construction Academy is excited to announce that we’re Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) finalists, for the second year in a row! As one of 3 schools representing the Americas, we’ll compete for $100,000 in Abu Dhabi this January. If we win, we’ll use funding to build an Energy-Environment Research Center in front of our school with a 3.5kW wind turbine and 3kW solar photovoltaic array. Watch this video and see the below picture to learn more.

Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.MrWight.wordpress.com

COMPLETED! Solar PV Crowd Funding for BDCA!

Our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project was recently fully funded through Divvy Solar‘s solar panel crowd funding platform! Thanks to everyone who made this a reality! We’ll keep you updated on our progress!

$5500 Crowd Funded Solar PV for BDCA!

Consider supporting solar panel crowd funding at Bronx Design & Construction Academy! Click here to see our project page and watch this video to learn more about our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy research. You can easily do this by logging in either here using social media or here using Divvy Solar. Note: nothing will be charged unless we reach our goal.

If interested in crowd funding solar panels for a school you know, check out Divvy Solar!

$5000 Crowd Funded PV for BDCA!

Support solar panel crowd funding at BDCA!

Click here to see our project page and watch this video to learn more about Bronx Design & Construction Academy‘s student involvement with our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project.

Support us by purchasing a square on our attached rooftop image. You can easily do this by logging in either here using social media or here using Divvy Solar. Note: nothing will be charged unless we reach our goal.

Solar PV Crowd Funding!

https://vimeo.com/73305706

“DivvySolar (divvysolar.com) recently launched the beginning of an exciting new era of crowdsourcing solar panels! Their first project is at Bronx Design & Construction Academy to help turn our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy (https://gripv.wordpress.com) pilot project into a full scale study on our school’s roof.

Support our project here! http://divvysolar.com/projects/BDCA_solar/

In the News:

• dnainfo.com/new-york/20130827/morningside-heights/columbia-engineering-students-launch-crowd-funding-site-for-solar-panels
• http://www.ases.org/green-roof-study-by-south-bronx-students-to-be-presented-at-wref-2012/

Learn More:
Divvy enables the development of community clean energy projects through crowdfunding to provide sustainable social, environmental, and financial impacts. Community organizations—schools, religious institutions, local businesses, etc.—use the online platform to reach their local members as well as to connect with the global renewable energy community. Divvy oversees the project’s fundraising campaign, integrating with social media to push projects to funding completion. The community organization provides the Funders with rewards ranging from sentimental student artwork to coupons and discounts for their contributions. After the funding process is completed, the organization receives the solar system at no cost and stays connected with the Funders through the Divvy platform, while enjoying financial and environmental benefits over the system’s lifetime (>30 years). Divvy’s pilot project is a stand-alone, experimental solar system at the Bronx Design and Construction Academy for investigating the synergies between solar and green roofs. The Divvy platform is launching with this project on August 28th, when it will be opened up for other project initiators as well. Among other project leads, a grid-tied solar system at Middle School 88 (MS88) in Brooklyn is under review by school staff and Department of Education contacts.”

Video Zayed Future Energy Prize Global High School

Last January we attended Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week at the annual World Future Energy Summit in the United Arab Emirates. Here’s a video highlighting all of the Global High Schools (We took 2nd place for all of the Americas!)

Socio-Scientific enrichment

-Elton Hollingsworth

ASES Student Reflections

Going to the American Solar Energy Society was a blast. We learned all about new forms of renewable energy. And we also learned different ways of making energy, such as new ways of making thermal energy. We learned a lot, and we also presented, which was very good. We were very nervous, but we got through it. And we were apparently good, even though we messed up a few times. We saw to Marc Perez’s father speak about the complexity of the electricity grid. Though we were exhausted, we were astounded by the debate after his part between two or so people. They were talking about selling leftover energy that is not being used for a higher amount. In all, the experience was amazing. We learned a lot, and met new people. It was a great experience.
– Michael Pagan (9th grade, Bronx Design & Construction Academy)

This trip was very inspirational. We learned a lot about renewable energy. The best part was when we answered questions for the audience. I learned about sketchup which is a program that you can use to make 3d designs.
– Verick White (9th grade, Bronx Design & Construction Academy)

Students Teaching Teachers

BDCA 3rd place category in NYCSEF!

Earlier this month Bronx Design & Construction Academy Energy-Environment Research Club students submitted a research paper about our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project. As a result, we were invited to compete in the preliminary rounds of the New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) against 550 projects from a select group of high schools. BDCA was then rated in the top 20% of the preliminary rounds and invited to complete in the NYCSEF final round in the Museum of Natural History against the top science research projects in New York City.

In the final round BDCA received a 3rd place category prize and was recognized with two special awards: US Army Excellence in Science & Engineering and The Ricoh Americas Corporation Sustainable Development Award!

Nathaniel Thayer Wight

New York City Science and Engineering Fair

Bronx Design & Construction Academy Energy-Environment Research Club students recently competed in the annual New York City Science and Engineering Fair. We competed against 550 projects from a select group of high schools (including Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, Bx Science) – and we made it to the final round! We were rated in the top 20% and will now compete in the final round on Tuesday, March 19th in the Museum of Natural History. Students that make it to the top 20% of the final round will receive a $5000 scholarship and an all expense paid trip to Phoenix, Arizona to compete for more than $4,000,000 in scholarships and awards at Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair. See last year’s ISEF Highlights here. Wish us luck!

Dot Earth Article!

Andrew Revkin, a science and environmental writer for the Dot Earth environmental blog on The Times’ Opinion Pages, recently wrote an article titled “Schools, and Syllabuses, Designed With the Environment in Mind” highlighting our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project at Bronx Design & Construction Academy! This was part of a larger article about the Green School Alliance Network.

ZFEP 2nd Place Video!

Here’s a video featuring our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project at Bronx Design & Construction Academy. This was shown during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week at the annual World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

We took 2nd Place! https://vimeo.com/58508578

Zayed Future Energy Prize Finalists!

Reflections

So, we officially received 2nd place. Although we were initially upset, we were also thankful to be able to participate in the event and humbled to be part of this amazing group, especially knowing we represented 1 of the 15 finalists (out of over 800 grant applications).

I’ve always said major grant writing is like hitting a major league 90 mph baseball; getting 3 / 10 right is considered great. My students recognize this and have already started looking elsewhere. Hopefully we’ll hit 1 of the next few pitches…

Tomorrow before departing we will present our work to another local school, take part in a ceremony for all of the finalists, tour a Mosque, and see the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. We’ll keep posting…

Nathaniel Thayer Wight

World Future Energy Summit

2 high school students and I are in Abu Dhabi to represent our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project as finalists in the $100,000 Zayed Future Energy Prize at the annual World Future Energy Summit! We will be blogging about our trip here:

http://e2rc.wordpress.com

The winners of the Zayed Future Energy Prize will be announced at the Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on this Tuesday, January 15th.

Wish us luck!

Nathaniel Thayer Wight

Collecting data today.

Zayed Future Energy Prize

Two students at Bronx Design & Construction Academy, myself, and an English teacher wrote and submitted a $100,000 grant through the Zayed Future Energy Prize last July. We made it to the finals and are currently in the top 2 for all of the americas region! Click here to see a list/description of the finalists.

As finalists, we were invited to Abu Dhabi to present our Green Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy project at the annual World Future Energy Summit (ADSW) during the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The winners of the Zayed Future Energy Prize will be announced at the Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013. See below email!

Nathaniel Thayer Wight | Ecology Teacher Bronx Design & Construction Academy (x522)
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com

On behalf of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, I would like to formally congratulate Bronx Design & Construction Academy on being one of our 2013 finalists. As you know, the $4 million prize was created to honour the legacy of the Founding Father and first President of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and aims to inspire the current and next generation of global energy innovators to create solutions for the future.

We would be delighted if your esteemed high school could have a presence at the Zayed Future Energy Prize Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner, taking place on the evening of the 15th January 2013 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Every year, the Prize takes place alongside the World Future Energy Summit (WFES). We are proud to announce that this year the Prize will be prominently featured at its own exhibition stand which we aim to use as a platform to host presentations, panel discussions and more. WFES, hosted by Masdar, has established itself as the world’s foremost annual gathering in the renewable energy and sustainable technologies industry. Keynote speakers at the Summit have included heads of state and world leaders.

In addition to the Zayed Future Energy Prize and the World Future Energy Summit, ADSW will include the 1st International Water Summit and the Abu Dhabi International Renewable Energy Conference. The Opening Ceremony of ADSW will take place on the morning of the 15th of January. We would be honoured if the three guests could also attend this event.

Zayed Future Energy Prize
www.ZayedFutureEnergyPrize.com

Green Roof & Solar Panel Installation

Green Power for New York City

http://www.greenrooftechnology.com/announcements/greenroof-power-nyc

12-May-2012Big things happening in New York!

The first Green Roof & Solar Panel Installation by Green Roof Technology is now powered-up.

A few weeks ago Green Roof Technology announced the installation of the first non-roof-penetrative PV-Green Roof combination of its kind in Northern America. The Sun-Root system – promoted by Green Roof Technology – is the most advanced system solution that considers enhanced water storage for the plants and optimized evaporative cooling for solar panels at the same time. This green system is truly unparalleled.
Learn more about this amazing system by clicking here. (YouTube Video) Click on the picture for more information on our webpage

GRiPVc in the Press

Green Roof Study by South Bronx Students to be Presented at WREF 2012
http://ases.org/2012/05/green-roof-study-by-south-bronx-students-to-be-presented-at-wref-2012/

Experiments on Bronx school’s green roof taking students far
http://hechingerreport.org/content/experiments-on-bronx-schools-green-roof-taking-students-far_8652/

Bronx Science Students Present Findings at World Energy Forum in Denver
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120521/melrose/bronx-science-students-present-findings-at-world-energy-forum-denver

ASES/WREF Trip Day 2_Presentation!

ASES/WREF Trip Day 2_Exhibit Hall

ASES/WREF Trip Day 1_Tour of LEED Certified Colorado Convention Center

ASES/WREF Trip Day 1_Visiting Ascent Solar Technologies

Cover Story on American Solar Energy Society website!

Click here to read the full article.

Collecting The Data

6 Days Until Our Presentation at the ASES World Renewable Energy Forum!

I’m a public high school teacher at Bronx Design & Construction Academy (BDCA) in the South Bronx, NY. My students and I are working with Wade McGillis, Marc Perez, and Christina Ho from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University on researching the mutual benefit of green roofs and solar photovoltaic canopies on our school’s green roof. Several of my high school students were vital in the construction of the model homes in our shop classes, and continue to be deeply involved in the data collecting process.

We were recently accepted to present at the World Renewable Energy Forum May 16th in Denver. Noel and Elton, two 9th grade students at BDCA, will give the presentation about their involvement. They will speak to an established international group of professional renewable energy practitioners and researchers at the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) World Renewable Energy Forum (WREF).

My two 9th grade students are the only high school students presenting at the ASES/WREF, and quite possibly the youngest ever to present at this venue.

Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
nwight@bxdca.org | www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com

World Renewable Energy Forum
Green-Roof Integrated PV Canopies –An Empirical Study and Teaching Tool for Low Income Students in the South Bronx
Noel Cruz & Elton Hollingsworth
9th grade students, Bronx Design and Construction Academy, Bronx, NY

Nathaniel Wight, Marc Perez, Christina Ho
Columbia University, USA

Learn more about our project:
https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/2011/08/23/a_bronx_high_school_tests_integrated_green_roof_technologies.html
http://mrwight.wordpress.com/gras/

If interested, click here to download and view our presentation

HS Students to Present on GRiPV-c Research

Great news! We secured funding from our school, Bronx Design & Construction Academy, to send Noel Cruz and Elton Hollingsworth (in below picture) to the World Renewable Energy Forum / American Solar Energy Society National Solar Conference. These two amazing 9th grade High School students will present their findings during the Build Environment Block on Wednesday, May 16th between 1:15pm and 2:30pm. Hope to see you there!

Green-Roof Integrated PV Canopies: An Empirical Study and Teaching Tool for Low Income Students in the South Bronx

Nathaniel Thayer Wight
Bronx Design & Construction Academy
www.bxdca.org | www.BDCAecology.wordpress.com

American Solar Energy Society Conference

We are pleased to announce that we will be presenting our findings in Denver at the annual American Solar Energy Society Conference!

Title: Green-Roof Integrated PV Canopies – An Empirical Study and Teaching Tool for Low Income Students in the South Bronx
Date: May 13-17, 2012 (Specific day/time to come soon)

I’d like to bring one of my involved high school students, however, we don’t have the funding for this. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in supporting a high school student from the South Bronx, please email me at nwight@bxdca.org

See you in Denver!

Nathaniel Thayer Wight

Green-Roof Integrated PV Canopies First Snow

Nathaniel Thayer Wight

Update: Submittal to the World Renewable Energy Forum/ American Solar Energy Society National Solar Conference ’12

As of today, we are officially in the running for an oral session at ASES/WREF 2012, May 13th-17th in Denver, CO. We look forward to meeting any of our followers who come to the conference and share our progress; the results and analysis of 10 months of data collection from our test houses. Wish us luck in the selection process!

-Marc

Preliminary Findings

Solar Powered Carousel With Green Roof in NYC

“Hudson River Park’s Chelsea Cove on Pier 62 recently opened a beautiful carousel and covered it with an expansive green-roofed canopy that is topped with solar panels to keep the carousel spinning.”

http://www.arch-times.com/2010/08/04/fantastic-new-solar-powered-carousel-with-green-roof-in-nyc/

PV Canopy

Representatives from Brooklyn Botanic Garden visited GRAS and took pictures these amazing pictures of our GRiPV-c research study

Presentation of Findings at Columbia University

picture 31

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picture 111

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picture 16

cimg1873

Presentation of Findings at Columbia University

Today we presented our findings in Wade McGillis’s class (Field Methods for Environmental Engineers) at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Pyranometer and PV Arrays

Collecting the Data & Preliminary Findings

Today we used the hobo software and the data logger to take a preliminary reading of our setup

5 5 data logger2

picture 3

reading data

Model Solar Panels

Testing Sensors & Data Logger

Students Paint Model Solar Panel Canopy

Constructing a model solar panel canopy

Students Install Model Solar Panel Canopy

Moving Complete Model Homes on the Roof

Transporting the Modular Sedum Trays

Transporting Roof Systems to Roof

Transporting Models to Roof

Bringing the model homes/roof systems to our (lowered) roof

PV Array supports

Building solar panel supports

Sealing with Silicon

Sealing with silicon

Framing

Framing

Painting Insulation Board

Priming and painting insulation board black

Use Model to Determine Materials

Smith High School Students used a SketchUp model to determine material needed and pitch of the model solar panels.

Columbia University Grad Students at Smith

Marc Perez, Christina Ho, and Nathaniel Wight from Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science visit Alfred E Smith Career & Technical Education High School to introduce the project

Columbia University Research Project

We know the environmental benefits of a green roof include Stormwater management, increase in air quality, and decrease in cooling costs, see below pictures

stormwater management

increase air quality

decrease cooling costs

But Ashley Grant, Brandon Harvey, Michael Smith, William Alicea, Jared Hatcher, Marco Dwyer, Warrick Balfour from Alfred E. Smith CTE High School students are teaming up with Columbia University, Marc Perez, Christina Ho, and Nathaniel Wight to study something new: a Green-Roof Integrated Photovoltaic Canopy (GRIPV-c).

GRIP-c aims to evaluate data collected from four model houses, one housing a control roof, another with a green roof, a standard fixed photovoltaic system, and a GRIPV-c system. Essentially, we want to quantify the mutual benefit of green roofs and solar panels. See below illustration of our research

We’ll use this site to update our findings. If interested in signing up for email updates of blog posts, just be aware that you’ll receive posts relating to student programs and student resources as well.