Newswise — Top honors in the second annual University of Virginia Student Sustainability Project Competition went to a proposal to better educate local homeowners on saving energy.
The winning trio – civil engineering student Elizabeth Engel and mechanical engineering students Matthew Jungclaus and Quinn Weber – presented a plan to partner with Charlottesville's Local Energy Assistance Program, and turn data gained from home energy audits and energy meters into effective educational materials and recommendations to homeowners on how they can improve energy efficiency.
The team will develop their project over the summer with the support of a Jefferson Public Citizens grant and their $750 prize money. They plan to showcase their ideas as part of U.Va.'s ecoREMOD project, a recently begun demonstration of energy-efficient renovation of a historic home.
"The judges were impressed with the Home Energy Education project scope in terms of impact, its affiliation with a local non-profit, and the awareness components," said event organizer Andrew Greene, a sustainability planner in U.Va.'s Office of the Architect.
The competition, sponsored by U.Va.'s Presidential Committee on Sustainability, drew 17 proposals to achieve a sustainable future through more responsible use of environmental resources, more equitable social communities and greater economic efficiency. The projects ranged from water filtration in Guatemala and South Africa to meatless Mondays at University dining halls. Project posters will be available online.
The top three teams each won $750. Second place went to a system designed to provide rural Cambodians with reliable energy and clean water by converting rice husks into electricity and utilizing the waste ashes to filter the local water supply. Team members were Darden School of Business student Ken Greer; graduate engineering student Trevor Wesolowski; Julia Midland, a Georgetown University master of foreign service student; and Karen Hartke, a business student at Simmons College in Boston.
Two proposals split the third-place prize. Rachel Maderijian, a biomedical engineering student, Joshua Thomas, an engineering student focused on nanomedicine, and Lindsey Jones, a civil engineering student, proposed a convenient and inexpensive recycling system to handle the waste from fraternity parties.
Graduate planning student Dana Smith and undergraduates Wynnie Long, Michelle Rehme, Hannah Barefoot and Maggie Graham of the U.Va. Community Garden aim to build on the agricultural traditions of University founder Thomas Jefferson through gardening workshops, film screenings, cooking classes and guest speakers, as well as harvesting rainwater and composting for the garden.
"The winning projects reflect the broad array of global sustainability challenges – from energy conservation and clean water to recycling and local foods," Greene said. "It was clear that U.Va. students are on the leading edge of recognizing the challenges, envisioning a sustainable world and designing the innovative solutions that will get us there."
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