Sustainable Design Project
Description
The sustainability project was built to push our limits in creating something that we design into the real world. However there are a few constraints, the first and the most obvious is that it has to be sustainable. The second is that it is possible to build with in the time limit of two weeks and affordable. We took this project from the ground up in that we did everything. From finding the purpose, planning the structure, Finding/ buying the material, fundraising, and then to the final product. My final product is a garden with a support structure so that a tarp can be laid on top of it which turns it into a greenhouse. However the tarp doesn’t act like a greenhouse that is creating a mini biome where any plant can be grow. The tarp simply extends the growing season of plants.
The sustainability definition is ensuring a better future for future generations with the actions we take now. Because of inspiration my group and I was able to produce a sustainable garden for the school. Unlike most gardens this one is made out of scrap wood and pallet boards even this can make something sustainable because it cheap and recycling materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Which means we were able to build it for free no fundraising required. Also the fact that it is a garden and produces food makes it sustainable. Another example of sustainability is a solar field not because it used renewable resources but because it was a renewable resource for power. But making the garden more sustainable would be a good idea because it is kind of flimsy on a few joints and making those more durable is sustainable is because it will last longer.
During the project there were two primary sections. One of them was the planning phase (Which we actually presented at the all school exhibition) where we found materials and started funding ideas. The other section was putting our plans into action building, funding so on and so forth. Right when we started the second phase started most of the people in my group got involved in other projects. In response Me and one other person struggled to actually accomplish our goal. We continued to struggle until another group that was waiting for materials decided to help. In the end we had a garden area that can be used for many different thing because the tarp can easily be taken on and off. Also when we tilled the soil we did it so it doesn’t favor one plant over the other. This made the project a lot easier when we didn’t have to worry about technicalities of a certain plant species.
But one can start a project without inspiration and initiative to do so. My inspiration for the garden came from a field trip that we took to Fort Lewis College and got a tour of their composting system. One machine in particular fascinated me, it was a container that gave compost the right amount of oxygen, water, and heat constantly. Through this the particular part of composting that the machine sped up the process to three weeks as opposed to three months. This inspired me because it was a whole school making an enormous change. My thoughts then were how hard could it be to do one section scaled down. But not only that it also gave me an understanding on how such a big place can marginally increase their sustainability.
Outdoor prototype description
All projects have to start somewhere and for my group it was empathy interviews. We did this to understand a person's values without opinion. This was accomplished by asking a story to get their values such as we asked a teacher what was a particular day when they felt really good where they mentioned that they went biking as well as a few other outdoor activities. So we wrote “Activity” as well as “Open space”. These were really helpful because my original idea was to make an outdoor hangout space. But from the interviews I learned that not many people actually consistently go outside for lunch. So I ended up having to put the relaxation part as a second priority. If empathy interviews were not conducted the it would’ve been nigh impossible to understand what people would actually use.
The next step of the project was to finalize the idea or ideate by working out the little kinks as well as a way to see from a new perspective. Because of this I switched my idea from an outdoor classroom to a sheltered garden space. My thinking in this was in any which way it will be used weather it is planting flowers, produce, and/ or a common shelter. Not only that but it give the Why to the project you’re making. During this time we created “How Might We” or “HMW” statements which told people What and Why we are making our projects. In may case this was a garden and the “How Might We” statement was “How might we create a eco friendly multi-purpose garden space that is both efficient and effective”. This statement is supposed to be a median of an idea that is not over specific or to broad. And this really helped my group and I narrow down the scope.
To further refine our info we created physical prototypes out of normal craft supplies such as pipe cleaners, and popsicle sticks. Through this we were force to think of as many ideas as possible then finding the pros and cons of each. The primary focus of this is to calculate the feasibility of the project as well as playing with certain aesthetics and their effects. I found this particularly useful because I ended up making an enclosed classroom separate from the main buildings that as the functionality to open up. However even though it was feasible to build I couldn’t use the materials I wanted to because they were not durable enough to hold up the other pieces. One problem lead to another and ended up way over my feasibility range for fundraising. This really helped make sure we had the right idea to go with, it saved a lot of time and a lot of projects. It is almost like a possibility meter and is easier for people to truly understand what task they are undertaking.
Last but not least was building the idea that we have worked so hard on. For this step we started by ripping/dismantling a pallet board soon after we found longer boards which was an awesome replacement. Then we built our garden boxes as well as support beams to support the tarp. Building the green house did have some challenges but once broken down it was fairly easy to understand. This is what we used when we were replanning because obviously we were overwhelmed in the abyss of the mission ahead. As is known this strategy worked during the planning and building phases. Saving an estimated hour and a half of basic work. This allowed enough room for some a rudimentary critique with the group we worked with. But unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to actually apply what we did.
Reflection
In this project I grew the most in adaptability because my group members got involved with other projects except for me and one other person. We had to adapt to figure out how we were going to tackle such a project with a lot less people than we had initially anticipated. Fortunately some of my friends we waiting for materials. This practically saved the project because we couldn’t logistically do it on our own. We realized this when we were planning because it was taking way too long just for the one step. Thanks to that group we were actually able to finish earlier than we had anticipated. In return to their help in our project we helped in theirs at the time of their materials arrival. This helped both groups because we needed the same help at different times.
Now on the other side of the spectrum what I would have grown the most on was independent research. This would’ve been helpful in the beginning of the project so that we would’ve known how to build a greenhouse from the start so we didn’t waste so much time figuring out what to do. All of this would be very different if thing would have actually gone the way that it should’ve because we would have a legitimate greenhouse. We would also have to do a lot of fundraising because we were ordering the whole greenhouse. A problem that we faced was the wood kept of braking, and unfortunately this was unavoidable because that was the only wood we had access to. Aside from all of that it was an extremely successful project, considering that we still met our goal in a different way. I would have considered this a successful project because it was functional but we accomplished the same goal building it ourselves.
If one is to approach a project such as this make sure that you can do it the cheapest way possible without sacrificing the main goal or view of success. Also not piling up to much work on yourself because if circumstances change it is imperative the project could still be successful. Unfortunately I had to learn this the hard way while ambition is a good thing to have it can really mess up the project if taken too far. Such as in the beginning of my project we were planning to buy a greenhouse but due to the circumstances we had to build it on our own. What should’ve happened is we needed to look at the materials around us like the scrap wood pile by the school. This in of its own would’ve saved three hours of time in replanning. With that three hours there could’ve added a whole lot more to the final product such as decorating it.
All in all if you’re approaching the sustainable project, think simple and have a contingency or backup plan. Like if you were to be building a huge project and you need this one part which the whole idea balances on. The best route would to think of an easier way or less dependent on that one piece. Just having a second thought can save a lot of time for then one has an idea to fall back on. Because if you have this and know that they are possible then you can build something that you can be really proud of. Otherwise it is almost pointless to put time into a project and then shutting it down without refining it. Refining is a very important part of anything that we do because without it we could never get better
Description
The sustainability project was built to push our limits in creating something that we design into the real world. However there are a few constraints, the first and the most obvious is that it has to be sustainable. The second is that it is possible to build with in the time limit of two weeks and affordable. We took this project from the ground up in that we did everything. From finding the purpose, planning the structure, Finding/ buying the material, fundraising, and then to the final product. My final product is a garden with a support structure so that a tarp can be laid on top of it which turns it into a greenhouse. However the tarp doesn’t act like a greenhouse that is creating a mini biome where any plant can be grow. The tarp simply extends the growing season of plants.
The sustainability definition is ensuring a better future for future generations with the actions we take now. Because of inspiration my group and I was able to produce a sustainable garden for the school. Unlike most gardens this one is made out of scrap wood and pallet boards even this can make something sustainable because it cheap and recycling materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Which means we were able to build it for free no fundraising required. Also the fact that it is a garden and produces food makes it sustainable. Another example of sustainability is a solar field not because it used renewable resources but because it was a renewable resource for power. But making the garden more sustainable would be a good idea because it is kind of flimsy on a few joints and making those more durable is sustainable is because it will last longer.
During the project there were two primary sections. One of them was the planning phase (Which we actually presented at the all school exhibition) where we found materials and started funding ideas. The other section was putting our plans into action building, funding so on and so forth. Right when we started the second phase started most of the people in my group got involved in other projects. In response Me and one other person struggled to actually accomplish our goal. We continued to struggle until another group that was waiting for materials decided to help. In the end we had a garden area that can be used for many different thing because the tarp can easily be taken on and off. Also when we tilled the soil we did it so it doesn’t favor one plant over the other. This made the project a lot easier when we didn’t have to worry about technicalities of a certain plant species.
But one can start a project without inspiration and initiative to do so. My inspiration for the garden came from a field trip that we took to Fort Lewis College and got a tour of their composting system. One machine in particular fascinated me, it was a container that gave compost the right amount of oxygen, water, and heat constantly. Through this the particular part of composting that the machine sped up the process to three weeks as opposed to three months. This inspired me because it was a whole school making an enormous change. My thoughts then were how hard could it be to do one section scaled down. But not only that it also gave me an understanding on how such a big place can marginally increase their sustainability.
Outdoor prototype description
All projects have to start somewhere and for my group it was empathy interviews. We did this to understand a person's values without opinion. This was accomplished by asking a story to get their values such as we asked a teacher what was a particular day when they felt really good where they mentioned that they went biking as well as a few other outdoor activities. So we wrote “Activity” as well as “Open space”. These were really helpful because my original idea was to make an outdoor hangout space. But from the interviews I learned that not many people actually consistently go outside for lunch. So I ended up having to put the relaxation part as a second priority. If empathy interviews were not conducted the it would’ve been nigh impossible to understand what people would actually use.
The next step of the project was to finalize the idea or ideate by working out the little kinks as well as a way to see from a new perspective. Because of this I switched my idea from an outdoor classroom to a sheltered garden space. My thinking in this was in any which way it will be used weather it is planting flowers, produce, and/ or a common shelter. Not only that but it give the Why to the project you’re making. During this time we created “How Might We” or “HMW” statements which told people What and Why we are making our projects. In may case this was a garden and the “How Might We” statement was “How might we create a eco friendly multi-purpose garden space that is both efficient and effective”. This statement is supposed to be a median of an idea that is not over specific or to broad. And this really helped my group and I narrow down the scope.
To further refine our info we created physical prototypes out of normal craft supplies such as pipe cleaners, and popsicle sticks. Through this we were force to think of as many ideas as possible then finding the pros and cons of each. The primary focus of this is to calculate the feasibility of the project as well as playing with certain aesthetics and their effects. I found this particularly useful because I ended up making an enclosed classroom separate from the main buildings that as the functionality to open up. However even though it was feasible to build I couldn’t use the materials I wanted to because they were not durable enough to hold up the other pieces. One problem lead to another and ended up way over my feasibility range for fundraising. This really helped make sure we had the right idea to go with, it saved a lot of time and a lot of projects. It is almost like a possibility meter and is easier for people to truly understand what task they are undertaking.
Last but not least was building the idea that we have worked so hard on. For this step we started by ripping/dismantling a pallet board soon after we found longer boards which was an awesome replacement. Then we built our garden boxes as well as support beams to support the tarp. Building the green house did have some challenges but once broken down it was fairly easy to understand. This is what we used when we were replanning because obviously we were overwhelmed in the abyss of the mission ahead. As is known this strategy worked during the planning and building phases. Saving an estimated hour and a half of basic work. This allowed enough room for some a rudimentary critique with the group we worked with. But unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to actually apply what we did.
Reflection
In this project I grew the most in adaptability because my group members got involved with other projects except for me and one other person. We had to adapt to figure out how we were going to tackle such a project with a lot less people than we had initially anticipated. Fortunately some of my friends we waiting for materials. This practically saved the project because we couldn’t logistically do it on our own. We realized this when we were planning because it was taking way too long just for the one step. Thanks to that group we were actually able to finish earlier than we had anticipated. In return to their help in our project we helped in theirs at the time of their materials arrival. This helped both groups because we needed the same help at different times.
Now on the other side of the spectrum what I would have grown the most on was independent research. This would’ve been helpful in the beginning of the project so that we would’ve known how to build a greenhouse from the start so we didn’t waste so much time figuring out what to do. All of this would be very different if thing would have actually gone the way that it should’ve because we would have a legitimate greenhouse. We would also have to do a lot of fundraising because we were ordering the whole greenhouse. A problem that we faced was the wood kept of braking, and unfortunately this was unavoidable because that was the only wood we had access to. Aside from all of that it was an extremely successful project, considering that we still met our goal in a different way. I would have considered this a successful project because it was functional but we accomplished the same goal building it ourselves.
If one is to approach a project such as this make sure that you can do it the cheapest way possible without sacrificing the main goal or view of success. Also not piling up to much work on yourself because if circumstances change it is imperative the project could still be successful. Unfortunately I had to learn this the hard way while ambition is a good thing to have it can really mess up the project if taken too far. Such as in the beginning of my project we were planning to buy a greenhouse but due to the circumstances we had to build it on our own. What should’ve happened is we needed to look at the materials around us like the scrap wood pile by the school. This in of its own would’ve saved three hours of time in replanning. With that three hours there could’ve added a whole lot more to the final product such as decorating it.
All in all if you’re approaching the sustainable project, think simple and have a contingency or backup plan. Like if you were to be building a huge project and you need this one part which the whole idea balances on. The best route would to think of an easier way or less dependent on that one piece. Just having a second thought can save a lot of time for then one has an idea to fall back on. Because if you have this and know that they are possible then you can build something that you can be really proud of. Otherwise it is almost pointless to put time into a project and then shutting it down without refining it. Refining is a very important part of anything that we do because without it we could never get better