Innovation Showcases
Voluntary Energy Efficiency Program: The Work from Home Trend Presenting a Win-win Opportunity for the Triple Bottom Line View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Moulshree Mittal
The global pandemic COVID-19 has led to an advanced exploration of the remote world, with many employees and employers wanting to continue with the work-from-home (WFH) scenario even after offices reopened. Consequently, it becomes essential to understand the impact of energy load shifts from commercial to residential buildings and the resultant opportunity for the energy-efficient design community with this new trend. Simultaneously, businesses and companies are increasingly declaring net-zero goals, adopting various green market approaches, to tread a socially and environmentally responsible path. We are proposing the creation of a new program for such companies bringing them closer to their climate action goals while also benefitting their employees. It encompasses an opportunity for employers to incentivize energy efficiency upgrades of their employees’ homes, in a manner that proves to be financially feasible for both the primary stakeholders, i.e., companies and employees. We began the research by analyzing utility load shifts due to employees shifting to a WFH setup. Then, we collected information for residential green building retrofit techniques, identifying the most cost-effective and impactful ways to create healthier WFH environments while reducing GHG emissions. Further, we evaluated the viability of the new proposed program relative to the widely used existing decarbonization strategies. Next, we theoretically tested the implementation of the program through a case study. The report culminates with different suggestions to standardize the roadmap of such a voluntary energy-efficiency program and a discussion about its practical implementation to enable a win-win response of COVID-19 to climate change.
Creating a Healthy, Resilient Community in Kituntu, Uganda: Intended to Eliminate Daily Trips for Water and Firewood the Project Now Reduces Food Insecurity and Agricultural Regeneration View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Bruce Grulke
This project involves a person was born in Kituntu and wanted to rebuild her home there as an example of low carbon construction that would improve construction techniques in the community. As a child her chores included two 5 km walks each day for fresh water and a search for firewood that left little time for education and managing a healthy life. Construction of a seismically reinforced mud wall starts with hundreds of mud balls set in layers of wet mud that are capped off with site manufactured terra cotta roof panels. The drying wax used to waterproof the roof also covers a pressed earth floor as a substitute for concrete Water Whiskers inside the homes transform humidity in the air and provide some degree of cooling powered by VEGAN PV panels. The center improves local crop production, grows African spices, and teaches about how to cook with them while developing healthy eating habits. Sistema Biobolsa units convert agricultural waste into Biogas for cooking and to power gas driven chillers for heating, cooling, electricity, and water production. The shipping containers used to create the Lake from a Box are climate controlled to simulate regions in Africa where crops are failing to see what needs to be done to regenerate crops suffering from climate change.
How a Comic Can Raise Awareness on Saving Our Planet: Teslaman Fights Dirty (Pollution, Global Warming, etc.) View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Jorge A. Santana
How can a superhero graphic novel make the public aware of the dangers that our planet faces? This superhero, along with his partners (Pachamama (aka Mother Earth), and Windmill Giant) fight the villains Paul Looter, Smogman, Poison, and Stinky who put money above saving our planet. The comic deals with the effects of Global Warming, pollution, pesticides and the effects of fossil fuels on our environment and the world. Teslaman comes from a planet that was destroyed because it did not foresee the effects that climate change and lethal disasters would have on their planet. The superhero is a fan of Nikola Tesla.
